Although Diaguita pottery has almost undecipherable geometric designs, the motifs, repeated over and over again on the vessels, bring to mind the art of some indigenous peoples living today, whose designs sometimes are related to the imagery derived from consuming hallucinogens.
One of the main features that ties this art in with societies that use psychoactive substances is their “minimalist” character. The designs on the vessels seem to monotonously repeat just a few patterns. Nevertheless, when looked at carefully, small, subtle variations can be seen. In some cases, the change is only in the direction of a line; in others, the same line may be a different color; also a square may be replaced by a circle or a straight line by a curved one.
