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

167
Headband (partial)
Human Sacrifice or Offering
Wari-related culture (Chachapoyas? South Coast?)
AD 600-1000
Cotton, camelid wool; tapestry weave
10½" x 2½"
An extremely unusual depiction of a dismembered body (possibly laid on a shroud
or litter) supplies a focus for this headband (which, though incomplete, preserves a
checkerboard tab at one end). The eccentric, cursive style of drawing is also distinctive.
A large green head is juxtaposed with a man’s shirt and breechcloth, which are placed
in the appropriate spots (if there were an actual body). Motifs suggesting the severed
hands and feet of the victim occupy each corner. The removal of a warrior’s clothes
prior to mutilating or sacrificing him was a common theme in antecedent Nasca and
Moche iconography.
An alternative reading of this pattern block yields the outline and head of a crouching
animal (compare with cat. 176, detail below). This second, more cryptic, glyphlike motif
fits the sacrificial theme by combining animal elements (feline head, tail) within a
spiraling design (tail?) that terminates in a trophy head.
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