Photographer: Andrea Blumtritt | Rights management: Ethnologisches Museum, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
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Very small, zoomorphic stone sculpture. The standing, mammal-like object has a stocky body with four short legs attached. There are two round indentations on the back of the figure, which were made by a stone drill. The creature has a protruding, spherical head that rests directly on its shoulders. It has two small, sunken eyes and a wide, half-open mouth. Its long tail hangs limply between its hind legs. The head and abdomen of the unfinished sculpture are smoothed. Social significance: Mason surmises that most of the sculptures in the Capelladas-Pacayas group are literary finds. He believes that similarly small stone figures were used in religious ceremonies (1945: 271, 280). Their simple form may indicate a particular cultural tradition or a lack of craftsmanship. Cultural significance: the group was first described by Lehmann (1913) and Mason (1945). It includes small, massive sculptures from the sites of Capelladas, Pacayas (both near Juan Viñas) and San Isidro de Arenilla (near San José). The objects depict zoomorphic and anthropomorphic creatures standing, squatting, kneeling, sitting or lying on a flat base. They can embody bird-, monkey-, cat-, lizard-, male- or female-like figures. The figures have a large, round head, a flat face and a wide, sunken mouth. Their relatively short arms and legs assume a few standardised postures. The date of the group cannot be determined beyond doubt, as their archaeological contexts are unknown. Based on their design, the barely differentiated types seem to refer to Period V (1000-500d.C.). (Künne 2005)
