Shamans, Supernaturals & Animal Spirits: Mythic Figures From the Ancient Andes

211
Fragment from a Garment or Hanging
Seated Lord in Centipede Headdress
Lambayeque or Pacatnamu culture
AD 900-1375
Cotton, camelid wool; slit tapestry weave
7" x 6"
This portrayal of a dignitary or high priest installed within
an open-air structure appears to derive from a multiepisode
mythic narrative conceived in the earlier Moche
period. That context can be deduced from other north coast
textile iconography, notably that of the Lambayeque kingdom,
which was conquered and incorporated into the powerful
Chimú realm around AD 1325.
The architectural rendering describes a particular style of
ritual shelter, which was apparently erected on the summits
of temples and pyramids, although none survive among the
numerous adobe ruins found along the Pacific seaboard.
Two striped columns and a painted back wall support a steeply
pitched, gabled roof decorated with pediments and geometric
patterns. The dark background of the design establishes a sense
of spatial depth.
Other extant pictorial textiles give insight into the rites that
took place within such precincts. Invariably, the presiding
dignitary displays a goblet, presumably brimming with a ritual
libation. Here, a cactus-like motif wafting from the bowl
may indicate that the brew (probably chicha or corn beer) has
hallucinogenic properties. However, the liquid could equally
represent sacrificial blood, as suggested by Moche iconography
that depicts the Ritual Presentation of Goblets to a similarly
seated personage.
Imagery from another, related Pacatnamu garment places this
(or an equivalent) high-status ruler or lord in a complex scene
among dancers, weavers and a ritualist who either sacrifices—or
dances with—a white llama. 1 In the subsequent Inka tradition,
camelids had an essential function in calendrical rain rituals as
sacred offerings to the cosmic powers, or wakas.
The multi-tendril headpiece adorning this personage also
harks back to Moche symbolism. Although the crown evokes a
cascade of fluttering feathers seen from the side (as on a crescent
headdress), the wavy lines also supply multiple legs for a giant
centipede, replete with pincers, fangs and a segmented body,
which is worn upside-down. In Moche art, this venomous
creature is a player in mythological or origin dramas, where it
challenges and stings the creator deity, Ai Apaec. As an obvious
signifier of ferocity and danger, it makes a suitable insignia for
a powerful individual.
1 Christopher Donnan, “The Moment of Greatest Sanctity: A Pacatnamu Ritual
Textile,” Hali Annual 1 (1994): 161.
172