"Eminent ancestors of the better-known Inca, the Wari ascended to power in the south-central highlands of Peru in about AD 600, underwent a period of explosive growth, and then, by AD 1000, collapsed. During this lifespan, they created a society of such unprecedented complexity that many today regard it as the first empire in the Andes. Elite arts and the ideologies that informed them were among the culture's most prominent exports. From their eponymous capital, one of the largest archaeological sites in South America, the Wari sent elaborate objects and textiles to their highland provincial centers as well as down into populous Pacific coastal areas to the west. The arts were crucial to their political, economic, and religious systems. Since the Wari did not write, the arts took on special roles in preserving and communicating information. This book is published on the occasion of an exhibition organized by the Cleveland Museum of Art that features some 170 objects from collections in Canada, Europe, Peru, and the United States. The selection covers the full range of Wari elite arts: elaborate textiles, which probably were at the core of Wari value systems; sophisticated ceramics of various styles; exquisite personal ornaments made of precious materials; carved wood containers; and works in stone and other media. The exhibition, the first in North America devoted to the arts of the Wari, was curated and the cataloged edited by Susan E. Bergh, curator of Pre-Columbian and Native North American art at the Cleveland Museum of Art."--Page 2 of cover.