20.15

The Pucara Camelid Woman theme is the quintessential representation of the association between females and domesticated camelids and seems to anticipate Colonial era accounts of puna-bound women herding their llamas and alpacas. Typically, she leads a single llama with her left hand and holds a basket (of food? of wool?) and long staff. The divided eye may attest to her supernatural characteristics or mark her as an important culture hero figure. Adapted and redrawn from Chávez (2002).