Huaco (pottery)

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Huaco or Guaco is the generic name given in Peru mostly to earthen vessels and other finely made pottery artworks 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 aestetical uses in central andean pre-Columbian civilizations.

The word huaco derives from the term huaca. Huacas are ruins or ancient structures -where most of huacos are found- mainly funerary buildings. 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.