The link between life and death, and the place of ancestors as the main intermediaries between the two worlds is undoubtedly one of the most recurrent themes in Nasca iconography. The modeled head of a human being appears in this fragment of a ceremonial drum, possibly an ancestor judging by the accessories he is wearing: a mouth mask with feline whiskers and a headband with the painted figure of a feline on his head. Characters similar to this one are represented in ceramics and textiles of that period, with participants taking part in ritual combats and in supernatural transformations where they appear flying or standing, with appendages emanating from their bodies. (CP)