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

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Section from a Tunic
Profile Head and Fret Design
Wari culture
AD 600-1000
Cotton, camelid wool; interlocking tapestry weave
16½" x 21"
The most widely employed pattern scheme for Wari tunics
is built upon a rectangle or square that juxtaposes a stylized
profile face with a stepped spiral or fret. The repeating pattern
blocks are generally aligned in vertical bands interspersed with
broad solid color stripes, so that a curving white line dividing
the two motifs creates undulating columns down the face of the
tunic. Alternative arrangements, reflected in this vibrant textile,
include densely spaced overall layouts and architectonic formats
replicating the structure of the Sun Gateway at Tiwanaku, with
its heavy carved lintel, supporting pillars and center opening.
The great number of extant textiles in this style, as well as
portrayals in painted pottery of Wari officials and warriors
wearing similar shirts, suggest that the design was linked with
a particular rank or role in the Wari state and its religious
or military hierarchy. Tunics featuring this motif are not of
exceptional quality or fineness, however, which again probably
reflects their more common usage or status. 1
The tunics’ wide availability records the imposition of Wari
control or influence over a vast region. Even if they were made
for distribution across the empire, it is feasible that the garments
were produced by weaving workshops in many different areas.
Further investigation of the stylistic and technical divergences
reflected in this body of material may potentially uncover
commonalities in production or origin, or even identify the
hands and ideas of individual weavers.
Although they were standardized (or perhaps because
they were standardized) the compositions provided ample
opportunity for the resourceful Wari weaver to capitalize on
visual unpredictability through the subtle manipulation of
color, shape and detail. Such eccentricities and variations are
a defining, and much-admired, attribute of the Wari textile
aesthetic. This characteristic is expressed here, for example, in
the erratically located, minute tonal differences between the
blue and green elements. The compression/expansion dynamic
is similarly active.
While the spiral/fret motif is remarkably consistent across the
tradition, there are telling differences in the renderings of the
stylized faces. This variant displays a long, thick eye mark and a
human mouth; others interpretations have Z-shaped fangs, or
may be entirely devoid of fine detail.
The significance of the symbol, however, is more ambiguous.
It seems plausible that the conjunction of step (i.e., mountain
or earth) and spiral (i.e., water or ocean) was a cosmogram
representing the world or the sacred landscape. Similarly the
abbreviated sign might derive from related iconography on the
Sun Gateway. The coiling element certainly evokes an animal
tail; and indeed, the connection between the puma's tail and
flowing water is firmly embedded in highland myth, cult and
language.
1 Susan E. Bergh, “Tapestry-Woven Tunics," in Wari. Lords of the Ancient Andes, ed.
Susan E. Bergh (2012): 163.
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