Visual Nature: Multiperspectivity on Peru’s South Coast

Abstract

Imagery produced by the Indigenous peoples of south-coastal Peru (100 BCE–700 CE) frequently paired plants, animals (human and otherwise), and what have been called mythical or supernatural entities in predator–prey relationships. The dyads suggest that the Nasca and their Paracas predecessors understood the biosphere as both the source and product of energy flow in which all entities functioned as both takers and givers. The perspectivist concept of multinaturalism reveals the ways south-coastal imagery visualizes commonality beyond domains; plants, animals, supernaturals, the living, and the dead all participated in the necessary give and take of life energy. Employing a holistic, ecosystemic perspective, artisans utilized visual analogy to emphasize this commonality across their different natures. Although predators and prey might appear antagonistic, ultimately, in cosmic terms, the pairings perform as complements, and so serve to remind viewers of their reciprocal obligations: takers must give, and givers must take. Yet, despite emphasizing equilibrium, takers dominated the south-coastal pictorial corpus. In the end, such imagery served the interests of high-status males who themselves took on powerful “taker” abilities, suggesting that they and their actions revved the cosmic engine to the benefit of all beings.