Nazca - Female Effigy Figure - Walters 2009207 - Three Quarter Left

Andean civilization is renowned for spectacular textiles that were at the heart of social politics and economics from earliest times. The fiber arts permeated all facets of daily existence, from clothing to protect the body to bridges spanning treacherous gorges. The form, materials, quality, and decorative imagery on clothing conveyed a person's social status or political affiliation and even recounted his or her specific accomplishments on behalf of the state. This female figure originally was dressed in clothing appropriate to her meaning as an offering- perhaps a building dedication cache or ritual deposit at a huaca, a sacred location where divine forces are concentrated. Coastal Andean peoples were keen observers of the vast ocean world. The Nasca, in particular, relied heavily on marine resources for food and materials for a variety of uses, such as the whale tooth from which this captivating lady was carved. The salty ocean and its unusual creatures constituted a dyadic opposition to the earth with its fresh waters. The carving of a ritual figurine from the tooth of a gigantic marine creature certainly carried extra spiritual significance.