Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino

Despite the fact that we know of no existing Diaguita textiles, the images painted onto the duck-shaped pitchers suggest how important figures of that society dressed. In the pre-Inka period they wore headbands with a variety of geometric designs, later replacing these with hairstyles and headdresses. In both periods, however, the people are shown wearing Andean tunics or shirts.

These torteras—perforated weights—were used to balance the spindle as fiber was spun into yarn. Their abundance in archeological sites indicates that that the Diaguita did have a textile industry, even though no examples of it have survived the humid climate. On some vessels, shapes resembling torteras have been painted onto the faces of figures.

Long before the arrival of the Inkas, the Diaguita were already expert stoneworkers. The presence of numerous quarries for extracting combarbalita, and the fact that this raw material was easy to access and extract, facilitated the development of stoneworking and the manufacture of ornaments and utensils.

Peruvian peregrine falcon: Falco peregrinus

This bird is found virtually throughout the Americas, except in the very cold climates of its far reaches. It has a back-and-white flecked breast and mask-like eye-rings. A skillful flier that pursues and dives onto its prey at high velocity, the peregrine falcon sits at the top of the food chain and has no predators, living up to its status as the “royal bird” of the Inka ruler. According to Inka beliefs, this bird represented the spirit of the ancestors who founded the different ethnic groups.