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A Nasca textile (4) from the far south coast portrays an ocean teeming with marine warriors and bloodied with human heads. Anthropomorphic catfish are ranged against giant whale sharks or orcas; some have already been consumed. The schematically-drawn catfish display life-like barbs, fleshy lips, and flattened heads, but they also feature human hands and feet, and wear loincloths. Small, ovoid motifs possibly represent Capsicum chilli peppers, which were associated with fertility and bloodshed, and were a traditional offering to the sea. 6 Does this intricate scene relate a coastal myth, or could it be an allegory describing an epochal struggle between rival chiefdoms, with the rapacious fish standing in for human warriors? The odd-looking catfish is probably the only fish to be represented in highland and coastal traditions alike. Stone pillars carved with barbed and skeletal fish were enshrined at Pukara, the ceremonial site on the northern edge of Lake Titicaca between 200 BC and 250 AD . Archaeologists have also uncovered a temple mound there that was laid out in the form of the catfish. 7

Conceivably, such cult effigies honour the legendary suche, a large river catfish that lurks in the depths of the nearby lake. Myths from the southern Sierra and altiplano present the catfish as one of the riverine wives or sisters of Tunupa, the Lord of Lightning and Fire. 8

The Inca historian Garcilaso de la Vega’s catalogue of the marine creatures venerated by Andean natives

indicates that unusual attributes of size or shape, beautiful colour or patterning, and peculiar appendages such as outsized claws or tentacles were particularly valued. All hint at a supernatural current beneath the surface of things. Undoubtedly, the conspicuous barbels emerging from behind the catfish’s mouth intrigued ancient Andeans. This whisker-like trait apparently linked it to other shamanic animals such as felines, otters and seals. Armed with sharp spines and poison sacs, some of the marine species of catfish are also highly venomous. This cultural fascination with dangerous sea creatures probably extends to other fish depicted in pre-Columbian art. The fantastical puffer or porcupine fish, shown in a Wari tapestry (2), is notable for its capacity to alter its shape by inflating itself into a large taut sphere and deploying long, sharp spines. Certain types contain a virulent neurotoxin that, when consumed, can cause paralysis or even death – a fact evidently recognised by coastal cultures, who must have regarded this deceptively comical figure with awe. One of a pair of extraordinary fish-shaped panels associated with the sanctuary of Pachacamac on the central coast idealises yet another fish of ambivalent status – the trambollo, a kind of blenny (6). A series of such tapestries exist, woven sometime between 1000 and 1476 AD , the height of the shrine’s power. Their unusual dimensions and contoured forms suggest
PRE-COLUMBIAN TEXTILES

a votive offering, a less perishable tribute for the temple and its great pantheon of deities than actual fish. Perhaps, too, the textiles were bestowed by the cult priests upon important pilgrims or local chiefs. Far from depicting generic specimens, each of the Pachacamac panels portrays a specific type of fish. The trambollo’s most distinctive features (the prominent facial spots, the dark outline around the mouth, long pelvic tentacles, the paddle-shaped tail) are reproduced here, though there may be some overlapping with other closely related species. Abstract motifs effectively convey its variegated colour and patterning. The ‘X-ray’ backbone (a convention in shamanic art styles) is visible too. The edible trambollo is especially plentiful along the coast in November – undoubtedly an auspicious event, but surely not the only reason why the Pachacamac cult singled it out for symbolic representation. As in the case of another type of blenny popularly known as the borracho, or ‘drunk’, eating this fish can sometimes produce a strong effect of stupefication, sleepiness, and nightmares, as well as symptoms of gastric poisoning. 9

We should assume that Andean priests knew how to exploit this knowledge for shamanic purposes. The Pachacamac shrine, dedicated to thelord of

NOTES

1 | Maria Rostworoski (citing Albornoz), Recursos Naturales Renovables y Pesca. Siglo XVI y XVII, 1981, p.122. 2 | Kenneth Wright, ‘The Rise and Fall of Andean Empire. El Niño History Lessons’ on www.whn.neu.edu/CURRENT/ machu.htm. 3 | Ann Peters, ‘Ecology and Society in Embroidered Images

from the Paracas Necrópolis’ in A. Paul, ed., Paracas Art and Architecture, 1991, p.260; Eugenio Yacovleff, ‘La Deidad Primitiva de los Nasca.’ in Revista del Museo Nacional, vol. 1/1, Lima, 1932. 4 | Virginia Cereceda, ‘The semiology of Andean textiles: the talegas of Isluga’ in J. Murra, N. Wachtel and J. Revel, eds., Anthropological History of Andean Polities, 1986, p.161.

earthquakes and the lower world, dominated the central coast for 1000 years or more before the Spanish Conquest. It housed a renowned oracle that attracted pilgrims and tribute from across the region. Sacked after the fall of the Inca Empire, few descriptions survive of the temple’s original splendour or the religious ceremonies held there. Yet archaeologists have discovered, among the ruined pyramids, several tanks and aqueducts built near the women’s palace that, according to early chronicles, were kept stocked with fish – in apparent homage to the female divinity, Urpay Huachac. In Andean mythology this goddess was not only Pachacamac’s consort, she was the creatrix of fish and seabirds. Pre-Columbian people attributed the wealth of marine resources to Urpay Huachac’s influence; her cult is thought to have encompassed the central seaboard between the Chancay and Ica Valleys. Urpay Huachaccomes to this role through the agency of another cosmic figure, Cuniraya, who in anger up-ended a tank in which she was breeding fish. Cast into the empty ocean, the original fish multiply into the vast shoals that now swim offshore. To escape the god’s wrath, Urpay Huachac herself fulfills the destiny of all Andean deities: she becomes part of the animated landscape, petrified in the rocky Chincha Island that bears her name, and is still visited and revered as a wak’a (a sacred place) by local fishermen. One of the daily rituals at Pachacamac consisted of depositing a large cargo of freshly caught sardines and anchovies in front of a cult idol in the main ceremonial plaza. The resident condors and buzzards who squabbled over this offering turned nature into a ritual spectacle. These carrion-feeding birds were linked with human sacrifice and punishment. 10

The small fish must have had inherent symbolic value. Surely their silvery iridescence, reflecting the colour of water, moon and precious metal, was emblematic of the marine goddess, her domain, and the profusion of fish she provided to the inhabitants of the ancient Andes.

5 | Mary Frame, ‘Blood, Fertility, and Transformation: Interwoven Themes in the Paracas Necropolis Embroideries’ in E. Benson & A. Cook, eds., Ritual Sacrifice in Ancient Peru, 2001, pp.77-80. 6 | Catherine Allen, ‘The Nasca Creatures: Some Problems of Iconography.’ Anthropology, No. 5, 1981, p.51. 7 | Alan Kolata, The Tiwanaku, 1993, p.70.

8 | Maria Rostworoski; Penny Dransart, Earth, Water, Fleece: An Ethnography and Archaeology of Andean Camelid Herding, 2002, p.53; Teresa Gisbert, Arte Textil y Mundo Andino, 1987, pp.152-53. 9 | Jorge Sanchez Romero. Historia Maritima del Peru Aspectos Biológicos y Pesqueros del Mar Peruano, Vol 1, 1977. p.483. 10 | Maria Rostworoski, Recursos Naturales,pp.28-30; 125-126.

4. Facing page: Marine Warriors (detail): Catfish and killer whales, Nasca-Sihuas culture. 23 x 28cm (9" x 11"). Private collection, USA

5. Below left: Killer whales, early Nasca culture. Each figure, 9 x 14cm (3 1 ⁄ 2 " x 5 1 ⁄ 4 "). Private collection, USA

6. Above: Votive panel woven in the form of a trambollo, Pachacamac-Rimac culture. 56 x 25cm (1'10" x 10"). Private collection, USA

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