Chile antes de Chile | Snakes and eagles

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Snakes and eagles

Representations of certain animals were potent power symbols in the ancient Andean world, especially when worn on the head. Skeins of wool wound turban-like around the head may have symbolized curled up snakes, offering ritual protection to those who wore them. The four eagles on the crown of this four-cornered hat and the 16 eagle heads at its base invoke the power of birds of prey, which were important in the belief systems of the Tiwanaku culture and of the desert peoples they influenced.

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