Representaciones del ave e instrumentos rituales tiwanakotas. Medios para llegar a lo divino

Abstract

The representation of the bird in the Tiwanaku iconography is part of a set of sacred symbols, emblems of power, that condense knowledge about the cosmovision and may be linked to shamanic practices. The image of the bird, represented by simplified elements, such as wings, flying or eyes, symbolizes the ability to cross the boundaries between the worlds, to see the sacred, and may express the intermediation between men and divinities. This research aims to analyze those Tiwanaku iconographic elements that represent the bird and that are engraved on some ritual objects of different material. The images embodied on these ritual instruments have a special value: in addition to being symbols of knowledge, they become magicalsymbolic means to reach the divine.