Predatory Spider
Nasca culture
10-3/4" tall x 12" wide

Among many pre-Columbian cultures, spider and scorpion appear primarily as supernatural decapitators, wielding blades instead of fangs or stingers, and snaring severed heads in net bags and webs, before presumably draining their victims of blood, leaving only dessicated husks. Venomous, nocturnal, secretive: these pincered characters are consummate underworld characters.

Tarantulas may have been significant in pre-Columbian divination practices as well. Prognostication took many forms in the prehispanic era, and we know from Inka traditions that there were numerous classes of diviners and oracles, each specializing in a different art or medium.

The art of spider divination, Pachacarícuc, was reportedly especially common in Chinchasuyo, the southwestern quadrant of the Inka empire. According to various Spanish chroniclers, diviners either kept or trapped large “hairy” spiders to consult for omens. The spiders were cast onto a special ceremonial cloth, and their legs examined for unusual breaks and positions.