An eminent ancestor of the better-known Inca, the Wari ascended to powerin the south-central highlands of Peru in about AD 600, underwent a briefperiod of incandescently explosive growth, and then, by AD 1000, collapsed.Elite arts and the ideologies that informed them were among the Wari'smost prominent exports. From their capital, one of the largest archaeologicalsites in South America, they sent their religion along with elaborate objectsand textiles out to highland provincial centers hundreds of miles to thenorth and south, and down into populous Pacific coastal areas to the west.The arts were crucial to the Wari's political, economic, and religiouscommunications: like other ancient Andean peoples, they did not write.The objects featured here cover the full range of Wari arts: elaboratetextiles, which probably were at the core of their value systems; sophisticatedceramics of various styles; exquisite personal ornaments made of gold,silver, shell, or bone and often inlaid with precious materials; carved woodcontainers; and other works in stone and fiber.