Chulucanas is a town in Morropón Province,

Piura Region Piura () is a coastal department and region in northwestern Peru. The region's capital is Piura and its largest port cities, Paita and Talara, are also among the most important in Peru. The area is known for its tropical and dry beaches. It i ...

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

. It lies in the Piura Valley just north of the confluence of the Charanal River with the

Piura River The Piura River is a river in northern Peru. The river flows westward from the Andes to the Pacific Ocean and is susceptible to major flooding. Piura is the largest city along the river's course. Course The Piura River has its source in eastern ...

. Chulucanas is the administrative seat for both Chulucanas District and Morropón Province. The town is famous for its pottery. Originally dating from pre-

Inca The Inca Empire, officially known as the Realm of the Four Parts (, ), was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The administrative, political, and military center of the empire was in the city of Cusco. The History of the Incas, Inca ...

n times, it is exported all over the world today. It is one of seven products that the Peruvian government supports through its Center for Technological Innovation (CITE). Designs are varied, but are predominated by black and white. There are several bigger companies, but many small manufacturers are in Chulucanas and the nearby village of Quatro Esquinas. A major festival for the town is the Fiesta de Cristo Resucitado at Easter. Operating in Chulucanas is Victor's Vision, a nonprofit organization that provides supplemental academic and personal support, guidance, and resources to bright, impoverished youth. In 2013, Chulucanas recorded a temperature of , which is the joint highest temperature to have ever been recorded in Peru along with the Lancones District.

Ceramics production

The region of Chulucanas – in the province of Morropón – produces a type of

ceramic A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant, and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porcela ...

officially labeled with the appellation of origin Chulucanas. The main natural components of Chulucanas pottery are clay, sand,

mango A mango is an edible stone fruit produced by the tropical tree '' Mangifera indica''. It originated from the region between northwestern Myanmar, Bangladesh, and northeastern India. ''M. indica'' has been cultivated in South and Southeast As ...

leaves, and the climate. For the elaboration of Chulucanas ceramics, the clay is extracted from certain quarries containing mainly yellow clay ''(arcilla amarilla)'' and black clay ''(arcilla negra)''. These particular types of clay contain divided particles that characterize not only their plasticity, but also their organic content of

iron oxide An iron oxide is a chemical compound composed of iron and oxygen. Several iron oxides are recognized. Often they are non-stoichiometric. Ferric oxyhydroxides are a related class of compounds, perhaps the best known of which is rust. Iron ...

and

organic waste Biodegradable waste includes any organic matter in waste which can be broken down into carbon dioxide, water, methane, compost, humus, and simple organic molecules by micro-organisms and other living things by composting, aerobic digestion, ana ...

. The type of clay is also responsible for giving brightness to the ceramic when it is burnished. The artisans of Chulucanas use distinctive ancestral techniques from ancient cultures such as the Vicús and the Tallán. Before completion, each ceramic piece will undergo a dozen steps. The artisans mold the raw clay with their hands and feet, then use wooden pallets and stones to shape it better. The first colors, derived from natural sources such as leaves and soil pigment, are added. Then the pieces are placed in an oven and submerged for hours in the smoke of burning mango leaves, which gives Chulucanas pottery its characteristic black color. To complete the piece, the ceramic is polished by hand with a black stone to give it a brilliant shine. In 2006, the Asociación de Ceramistas Vicús, the Asociación Civil de Ceramistas Tierra Encantada, and the CITE Cerámica de Chulucanas filed a request for the appellation of origin Chulucana, which was registered in 2008.

Climate

Notes and references

Populated places in the Department of Piura {{Piura-geo-stub qu:Chulucanas