Jar with trophy heads

Head-taking in battle and sacrificial decapitation are common themes in all Andean art, and this jar illustrates a link between them and fertility. The upper band is a series of trophy heads that are symbolic seeds, with the hair of each victim spread out like sprouting vegetation or leaves. Whether the decapitated head was seen as the source of personal energy and power, or whether the shape was seen simply as a symbolic bean, the link between the severed head and the sprouting bean clearly symbolizes life and fertility. Using a powerful image of death to symbolize the beginning of life and growth is a typical Andean and New World duality. The pointed and crossed bands are groups of spears tended by the warrior figures.