Double-Headed Falcon with Shamanic Characteristics
Paracas culture
5" x 31/4"

Artistic traditions from the south coast paid great attention to the aplomado falcon (Falco femoralis). Although generally spotted at higher elevations (around six thousand feet), this distinctive bird assumed particular relevance for the Paracas and Nasca cultures as a shamanic avatar and supernatural patron.

Textile artists and painters of ceremonial pottery rendered the bird’s traits and plumage with great fidelity, emphasizing its powerful body, thick neck, short curved beak, and the highly contrasting black and white bars on its tail and flank feathers.

The mustachial stripe highlighting the falcon’s eyes is its most conspicuous feature. As a motif painted on the faces of warriors, shamans, and bird impersonators, this horseshoe-shaped mark has the impact of a spiritual sign, tacitly linking such personages with swiftness, ferocity and hunting skill. A comparable practice has been noted in tropical regions of Bolivia among men who used to ritually prepare themselves for the hunt by daubing their faces with eagle eyes.