Huaco (pottery)

Huaco or Guaco is the generic name given in Peru mostly to earthen vessels and other finely made pottery artworks by the indigenous peoples of the Americas found in pre-Columbian sites such as burial locations, sanctuaries, temples and other ancient ruins.

Huacos are not mere earthenware but notable pottery specimens linked to ceremonial, religious, artistic or aesthetic uses in central Andean, pre-Columbian civilizations.

Since the time of the Spanish conquest of Peru, these types of pieces have been found in pre-Columbian sites like temples, graves and burials, as well as other kinds of ruins.

In Peru, a huaquero is a person that digs in ancient pre-Columbian ruins illegally in order to get valuable pieces of artwork, usually destroying the structure.

[1] In the 1570s during the Spanish conquest of Peru, Viceroy Francisco de Toledo and his clerical advisers worked to destroy many erotic huacos, though some extant artifacts have survived.