Andes: Prehistoric Art

Introduction

Worldviews among Andean people go back to the very first inhabitants that once entered this vast and complex territory. Early on, people figured out a way to capture the inaccessible by means of material representations. From the Andean hunters, i.e., artists representing a dancing shaman and running camelids in caves, invoking natural powers; to the Inca “tokapus” (textiles containing different signs and colors) exhibited by the elite, sacred art was a link to power and control of human and natural resources.

Early in time, Andean artists were able to find a variety of raw materials to accomplish these handcrafts. Clay, metal, wood, textiles, bones, and even stone were employed and transformed into art. With a few exceptions, almost all objects of nature were represented, both without modification and modified into unreal subjects. Therefore, it is usual to find, for example, plants or animals transformed into humans, and also human beings with bird attributes, etc. From...