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Data
Data Source

This information was automatically generated from data provided by MOA: University of British Columbia. It has been standardized to aid in finding and grouping information within the RRN. Accuracy and meaning should be verified from the Data Source tab.

Description

A tapering metal pin surmounted by a stylized animal head. There is a cleavage on the top of the head and a loop of cast metal at the back of the head. A mouth and nostrils are barely visible on the muzzle/beak. The metal is blackish in colour.

History Of Use

May have been used as a shawl pin. Shawl pins, called tupus in Quechua, continue to be used in some parts of Peru today.

Iconographic Meaning

The stylized head is that of a llama

Narrative

Inca style, Late Horizon; 1476 -1532 C.E. The stylized llama head is frequent on Inca bronze implements like knives (Bingham). The loop suggests it may have been worn suspended, perhaps when it was not in use.