Siguas Ornament

This gold axe-shaped ornament could have been sewn onto a crown or headdress, possibly worn by a ruler of the Siguas people of the south coast of Peru. Gold was an important material in ancient South America, prized for its symbolic association with the creative energy of the sun.
The circles surrounding the face on the ornament might represent drops of water, indicating that this could be Tunupa – an Andean thunder god who controlled the weather.