The lords of these dynasties were the patrons of vast workshops where finely crafted ornaments and ceremonial vessels were created (see 1991.419.62 66.196.27). and amassed great riches in gold and silver before they were conquered by the Inca Empire in the late fifteenth century. Powerful dynasties arose in this region between the eighth and the fourteenth centuries A.D. This mask, made of hammered sheet gold alloy and covered in red pigment, once adorned the body of a deceased ruler on Peru’s north coast.
