A Survey of Ancient Peruvian Art. 353 



ceremonial staff. The upper half of it bears a rectangular decora- 

 tion just like that on some of the tabs of the headdress. It is 

 surmounted by an indeterminate object. The lower half of the 

 staff is decorated in much the same way save for the fact that 

 the central panel is sunk as it is on the upper border of the skirt. 

 The base of the staff consists of a conventionalized bird-head. 

 In the case of the staff in the left hand of the Weeping God we 

 find the lower half identical with the one just described. The 

 upper half, however, is bifurcated and the two prongs are topped 

 by bird-heads similar to those already seen on the breast-orna- 

 ment. 



Having enumerated in detail the features of the Weeping God, 

 it will be well for us to note in general terms some of its char- 

 acteristics. In the Weeping God, then, we have a highly con- 

 ventionalized bas-relief in stone which shows considerable artistic 

 advance. For one thing, the tendency toward bilateral symmetry 

 noted in connection with Proto-Nasca art appears again here, and 

 it has gained considerably in strength. Save for the staffs and 

 the breast-ornament, the Weeping God is bilaterally symmetrical, 

 and the exceptions to that symmetry do not in the least interfere 

 with the impression of perfect bilateral balance. Moreover, the 

 constant re-statement of three or four motifs of decoration in 

 various combinations is eloquent of conventionalization that has 

 been long in developing. Lastly, the technique of the bas-relief 

 is of that square-edged type which would naturally develop out 

 of a round-surfaced stone technique after conventionalization 

 had set in. 



On the same gateway with the Weeping God are forty-eight 

 secondary figures in relief of the same type. There are twenty- 

 four on each side of the central figure. Here again, the tendency 

 toward bilateral symmetry is observable, for all the figures face 

 toward the Weeping God. These secondary personages fall into 

 two classes : ( i ) Those with bird-like bodies and human faces ; 

 and, (2)' Those with bird-like bodies and bird faces. Each of 

 them bears before him a staff which approximates in form to 

 one or the other of those held by the Weeping God. All the fig- 

 ures of both classes have four-digit hands, tears and tear-lines, 

 and a constant repetition of the TT sign, and of the puma-, 

 fish- and bird-head motifs. The wings of the figures are, in part, 

 almost realistic, and they recall the fluted wings we noted in con- 



