THE FISH DESIGN ON PERUVIAN MUMMY CLOTHS 
AN EXPLANATION OF CERTAIN COMPLEX PATTERNS 
UR largest sources of knowledge of prehistoric Peruvian peoples are 
records from their graves, not written documents however, for 
these people of Peru had no written language, but records far more 
difficult to read with correctness, namely, vessels of clay, wood and brass, 
or fabrics wrapped about their mummies. In the coastal region of Peru, 
the people worshipped the sea and the fish as a symbol of the sea, differing 
in this respect, of course, from inland races. In this coastal region there- 

REALISTIC FISH DESIGNS FROM PREHISTORIC PERU 
1 — Pendant cut from shell. 2— Head of bronze implement. 38 — Clay vessel. 
4 — Vessel of wood. 5 — Interlocked fish design from pottery 
fore, as would be expected, the fish proves a favorite design in decorative 
art. Pottery, vessels of wood and metal, as well as large coarse pieces of 
cloth used to wrap about mummy bundles show fish forms with considerable 
fidelity to nature. Woven fabrics, on the other hand, are decorated more 
often with conventional designs, designs of much greater simplicity of 
outline, owing possibly in part to the difficulties in the way of technique 
in weaving. 
Mr. Charles W. Mead of the Depart. of Anthropology has set forth in the 
Anniversary Volume of Essays presented to Professor Frederic Ward Putnam 
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