What kind of Gods were Huari Gods?* by Patricia J. Knobloch (c) 2005
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          Until November 1978 the only known Conchopata "offering deposit" was discovered by Julio C. Tello in 1942. Tello published very little about this collection and few authors since then have had much access to study the collection, producing mostly drawings. Indeed, actual photographs are extremely scarce. The collection consists of large urns on which mythical beings were painted on a broad band covering the upper third of the vessels. On one type of urn the band area was painted with an anthropomorphic deity and attendants positioned exactly in the same manner as those on the "Gate of the Sun" at Tiwanaku, Bolivia. The deity icon stands facing its audience holding a staff in either hand while the attendants are positioned in profile on either side facing the deity. On other urns the painted band area depicts full-bodied mythical beings positioned horizontally as though flying in a single file around the top of the urn. On another band variation, the full-bodied mythical beings are standing in profile as though walking in a single file. Another urn depicts a row of large, profiled heads of mythical beings in the band area. Rosalind Spielvogel published black and white photos of two "Tello" urns showing the walking mythical beings (Spielvogel 1955:Plate 21, Figure 2a,b) and the large, profiled heads example (Spielvogel 1955:Plate 55). Isbell and Cook (1987) published colored photos of the standing deity with attendants example that included the image of an individual standing next to the deity. Menzel published drawings of the standing deity with attendants (Menzel 1977:Figures 62, 63 lower right, 67), flying mythical beings (Menzel 1977:Figures 63 upper left, 91), walking mythical beings (Menzel 1977:Figure 66) and a "star animal" (Menzel 1977:Figure 63); the last example may be antecedent to the Epoch 2 Pachacamac "griffin" (Menzel 1968:94). The attendants are also referred to as angels or "messengers to the gods" (Menzel 1977:34). With the ubiquitous publication of the Tiwanaku "Gate of the Sun" photos, the lack of published photos of Tello's Huari urns remains difficult to understand since many scholars have given great importance to research the relationship between these two extraordinary, complex societies that dominated the Middle Horizon.

          To the great benefit of Andean researchers of the Middle Horizon phenomenon, Dorothy Menzel undertook a monumental task of analyzing, seriating and interpreting the stylistic repertoire of Huari imagery in order to correlate Huari's chronology of events with those of its contemporaries. Her task was published in three extensively detailed reports (Menzel 1964; 1968; 1977). Since this paper focuses on the ceremonial pottery and imagery of mythical beings, the Huari and Tiwanaku relationship will be of primary concern. In the first report, Menzel (1964) placed the Tello offering pottery into Epoch 1A and the south coast, Pacheco offering pottery into Epoch 1B. The second report (Menzel 1968) updates her statements with the inclusion of another offering deposit from Ayapata, a site 35 kms northwest of Huari, that she dates to Epoch 2A. Her 1977 compendium publication of Max Uhle collections at the Phoebe Apperson Hearst Museum of Anthropology at UC-Berkeley continued this study of Andean religious iconography and its development into the Late Horizon, Inca period. I will briefly review her findings and interpretations as they stood prior to the 1978 Conchopata offering.

What did Menzel discern from the analysis of Middle Horizon artifacts?

          According to Menzel, Huari developed a cult during Epoch 1 that was disseminated during Epoch 2A. In her analysis of the cult's offering deposits of ritually smashed pottery, Menzel dated the "Tello" offering from Conchopata (known as the Conchopata style) to Epoch 1A, the "Pacheco" offering from Nasca (known as the Robles Moqo style) to Epoch 1B and the "Ayapata" offering (Ravines 1968) (known as the Ayapata style) to Epoch 2A. Menzel (1968:ftnt.4) corrected her 1964 description of the Epoch 1 deposits stating that they were not found "in small subterranean rooms enclosed by walls", but rather in "unstructured pits." She believed that these offerings documented an unbroken cult related tradition though with significant cultural changes.

          Menzel described the offering pottery as "ceremonial" and "an expression of great religious devotion" due to its unique and distinct repertoire of motifs as compared to other Huari style pottery. Menzel (1968:49) commented on the artisan skill, time and devotion into the manufacture of these extraordinary vessels as a social investment by the Huari to support their cult. The Epoch 1A Conchopata art style was locally limited and represented "mythical beings" from cult beliefs similar to those at Tiwanaku. Since neither cultural area has produced pottery identifiable as from the other area, Menzel (1964:67) concluded that the religious similarities in the Conchopata and Tiwanaku stone sculpture styles were not due to any military conquest but rather by simple contact: "done either by missionaries from the Tiahuanaco center or by men from the area of Ayacucho and Huari who learned the new religion abroad and brought it home." In contrast, the Epoch 1B Robles Moqo style offering pottery from Pacheco was not only found there, but also in very small quantities at Huari and Conchopata and included a male and female deity, cultivar motifs, small vessels, modeled llama jars and anthropomorphic faceneck jars. These Epoch 1B style ceramics were also discovered in regional variations at other south coast sites. With respect to relationships with Tiwanaku, Menzel (1964:27-28) points out "parallels" to the regular sized Robles Moqo vessels such as tumblers, modeled human heads, serpents, felines and llamas thereby indicating possible independent interaction between this Huari colony and Tiwanaku populations. Based on the analysis of Chakipampa B style design features, Menzel's (1964:68) Epoch 1B was a time of empire building and conquest by Huari from AcarÌ to Chancay and Huaraz. Moche Phase V, defined by Rafael Larco Hoyle, dates to Middle Horizon 1B based on "association of Moche V and Huari-style features on some objects, and the associations of Moche V and Huari-style objects in the same burials" (Menzel 1977:59). In contrast to the more complex pantheon of Moche mythical beings, Menzel (1977:61) could easily distinguish the Huari pantheon into a hierarchy of "principal gods, secondary mythical beings that can be describe as "angels" or "winged spirit men" and lesser mythical beings that can be described as "star animals". The most closely similar mythical beings in Moche and Huari art is the "Moon Spirit Man" identified by Menzel (1977:Figures 140, 141) and the "Sacrificer" identified by Valc·rcel (1935). Both beings share the theme of decapitation by holding a blade (i.e., tumi knife or axe) in one hand and a trophy head in the other. They are also feline and may or may not have wings.

          In S. Henry WassÈnís 1972 publication he refers to Menzelís analysis of the snuff tablet of NiÒo Korin's medicine man's tomb (p.28). She concluded that ìthis tablet probably belongs to the Middle Horizon Epoch 1BÖî and ìÖat a conservative estimateÖthe Middle Horizon dates from about A.D. 800 to about A.D. 1100î (Menzel 1964:3). She compared the snuff tablet to the Huari "fire textile" published by Conklin (1970) and stated that it ìmust be exactly contemporary and represent the strong religious movement that dominated the area at this time, and that linked the Tiahuanaco and Huari complexes.î She continued with specific similarities of the design elements, such as the ìtail featherî atop the staffs on both artifacts having ìnarrow feathers in zigzag or wavy alignmentî. Conklin interpreted this motif as representative of fire. Menzel also mentioned that the zigzag pattern in the staff segments ìis a characteristic one for the highest ceremonial style of offering potteryî on the Conchopata urns discovered by Tello in 1942. Thus Menzel established a connection between the NiÒo Korin snuff tablet and Huariís ceremonial pottery tradition.

          While mentioning WassÈn's analysis of the snuff tablet, I would like to briefly mention the vast amount of research he summarized in just four pages. WassÈn (1972:32-35) continued the association to include the similarities of the feline deity on the NiÒo Korin snuff tablet with its counterpart on a snuff tablet from San Pedro de Atacama (Uhle 1912:Fig.4). [As mentioned, this feline deity was labeled by Valc·rcel as the ìSacrificerî icon.] Menzel mentioned to him the example published by CrÈqui-Montfort (1906:540, Fig.11) and suggested that it should be contemporary and ìearlier than other carvings from Tiahuanaco. Well, at least it should predate Middle Horizon 2î (WassÈn 1972:32). WassÈn adds the lintel from the house in Calle Linares, La Paz due to Roweís extensive description of the floating angel or ìSacrificerî (Wassen 1972:Fig.6). He mentions similar shared elements of the tail feather motif on wooden spoons with elaborately carved handles discovered on the coast (Kelemen 1956:Plate 275e). From the Pucara style, WassÈn draws attention to the ìundulatingî staffs of the ìrunning angelsî on a often published bowl (Rowe and Brandel; Chavez) implying more ancient similarities and possible antecedents, but acknowledges Roweís statement that there is too long a temporal gap and no known transitional style on which to base a stylistic development. Thus, WassÈn compiled many comparative examples of the "Sacrificer" as well as a possible temporal correlation.
          By Epoch 2A Menzel argues that populations moved from the Ayacucho area north to the site of Huari. This migration coincided with a re-organization of the empire at the beginning of Epoch 2 and the establishment of a rival transplant of the Huari religion on the central coast at Pachacamac (Menzel 1977:53). Her Epoch 2A lasted no more than 50 years and possibly occurred 650-700 A.D. This interpretation suggests that the societal changes of Epoch 2A may be due to one or two generations of Huari leadership.

          Menzel (1968:51) describes the practice of offerings as antecedent to Inca practices, though only with reference to the small, carved stone figurines (e.g., those from Pikillaqta) and shell that probably date to Middle Horizon Epoch 2. She did not suggest pottery offerings continued later than Epoch 2A thereby being replaced by the offerings of smaller and more easily distributed objects. The Epoch 2A Ayapata urns continue the Epoch 1 tradition of smashed and buried ceremonial pottery. Unlike the Epoch 1 urns, the Ayapata examples indicate that some substance was burned inside. Menzel refers to the similar Tiwanaku practice of incense burners or "thermadors" suggesting "an Epoch 2A innovation in the Huari area attributable to newly imported ceremonial influences from the south." To support this hypothesis, Menzel (1968: ftnt.32) refers to William Isbell's 1967 discovery of a locally made, modeled feline-headed burner in Cangallo, 50 kms south of Ayacucho, that resembles "Classic" Tiwanaku style burners.

          After describing the variety of several kinds of mythical designs and their associated themes represented on the Ayapata vessels, Menzel concluded that the Conchopata and Ayapata styles are more closely related, the latter developing from the former, than with the coastal Robles Moqo style at Pacheco. Since Epoch 2A fancy ware at Huari contains derivatives of Conchopata Epoch 1A offering pottery, Menzel (1968:50-51) deduced that "these mythical themes were also continued in use in Epoch 1B" at Huari and further suggested that though the current sample of Robles Moqo style ceramics is small at Huari she expects that it "contained the whole pantheon of mythical representations found at Conchopata." Therefore, the sierra Robles Moqo style at Huari "must have continued to carry in it the complete or nearly complete pantheon of the Conchopata-style complex. No other explanation can account for the persistence of variants of the entire Conchopata style pantheon in Middle Horizon Epoch 2" (Menzel 1968:55). In other words, the temporal gap between the Epoch 1A Conchopata style and the Epoch 2A Ayapata style can only be bridged by Robles Moqo style pottery from Huari manufactured during Epoch 1B and yet to be discovered.

          The Epoch 2A Ayapata style also represents the reaffirmation of the Huari cult from its fancy Chakipampa A antecedents in Epoch 1A as well as a strategy by Huari elites to use cult related designs as "prestige symbols that were equally applicable to ceremonial ware and other fancy Huari-style objects" (Menzel 1968:58). Large vessels allowed for more complete depictions of the cult's pantheon. These icons were abbreviated on the smaller drinking cups or tumblers: "Tumblers are an important emblem of the gods in Huari religion, and also appear as secular prestige vessels in Huari culture" (Menzel 1977:35).

          During Epoch 2A "prestigious individuals were entitled for the first time to appropriate the mythical themes of the Huari cult in the decoration of their burial furniture and attire" (Menzel 1968:68). This appropriation was part of Menzel's major Epoch 2 model of "secularization" by which earlier Epoch 1 ceremonial cult symbols become stylized, segmented and placed on artisan objects for easier dissemination and access by more populations involved in the Huari expansion. One such mythical theme is the feline-headed "angel" that occurs on Huari style pottery of Epoch 2A and early Epoch 2B and in the domain of Tiwanaku in Bolivia, far southern Peru and northern Chile. These Tiwanaku examples are carved on bone tubes and snuff tablets from San Pedro de Atacama that Menzel dates to Epoch 2 with two exemptions: a tablet from Chile with the Conchopata style "Angel A" (Le Paige 1965:l·m. 60) and a stone carving, the Linares lintel, from Tiwanaku (Posnansky 1945:v.2, figs. 140-140a) that "have special importance, because to my knowledge they are the only recorded examples of Tiahuanaco-style carvings of mythical figures probably attributable to Epoch 1" (Menzel 1968:ftnt. 106). These examples suggested "close communication between Huari and Tiwanaku areas" during Middle Horizon 1 and 2 (Menzel 1968:80). The ceremonial burning mentioned above reinforced the "active communication" between the two areas for Epoch 2A (Menzel 1968:90).

          Menzel (1968:91) concludes with descriptions of Huari society of Epoch 2A as having a "lay elite" stratum of society that "did not necessarily consist exclusively of priests", but of individuals with "considerable worldly power" and more privileged to be able to include pottery with cult associations in their burials. Menzel argued that the "religious cult continued to furnish the central focus around which the political system was built." She refers to John Rowe's (1946) suggestion that the mythology was tied to astronomical observations such as constellations since both researchers defer to Inca ethnohistory for religious and political models and that "the Conchopata-style mythical animals are associated with a symbolic design consisting of light-colored circles suggestive of stars" (Menzel 1968:93). One of the Conchopata star animals developed into a "griffin" figure used solely by the coastal Pachacamac society to depict a rival religious and political identity. As Menzel (1968:94) states, "This rival figure in the mythical pantheon of the religious world of Huari represents the seeds of division, a division that became more profound in Epoch 2B." In her later studies of Chimu Capac iconography Menzel (1977:33) refers to the Inca religion as having been derived from the Huari and described the second ranking God of Weather or God of Thunder as the descriptive link between the staffed deity depicted on the Conchopata urns discovered by Tello and the Inca God of Thunder. She supports this further by referring to the Pacheco urns with depictions of a male god and female goddess that match the Inca's Sun god - who came next in importance to their principal Creator god - and his wife the Moon goddess (Menzel 1977:54). By pairing these male and female deities, she suggests that the next most important god "who stood alone" was the Thunder god, also male, and was best represented by the Tello and the Gate of the Sun's central deity. She cites Ronald L. Olson's observation that the Pacheco urns were broken with a blow to the deity's face: "This is a form of sacrifice or "ceremonial killing," and also may have been designed to protect the sacred vessels in their undamaged state from desecration" (Menzel 1977:54). Menzel (1977:54) strongly believed that the religious depictions in Huari and Tiwanaku art were the "ancient basis of most of Inca religion, which persisted over a period of perhaps 1000 years."

          Though beyond the analytical focus of the data presented in this paper, the demise of the Huari Empire was seen to have originated in the political struggles of coastal societies as Pachacamac society maintained its autonomy and even incorporated the Ica population while Huari failed in Epoch 3 to maintain control of the coastal area with an outpost at Chimu Capac and strong traditional ties to the Nasca population (Menzel 1977:52-53).

Sources of religious iconography.

          The Huari culture is assumed to have developed in the Ayacucho-Huanta Basin as a result of the Early Intermediate Period Epoch 7 Huarpa culture's intensive interaction with the south coast Nasca culture. This activity is documented in ceramics exhibiting simplistic curvilinear designs in multiple colors that suggests a blending of the Huarpa geometric black, red and white designs with the very elaborate Nasca artistic tradition. Menzel (1977:52) estimated the Huarpa/Nasca interaction to have lasted two centuries. However long and systematic this interaction may have been, the outcome was not a replacement of local styles by the Nasca, but rather a controlled acceptance and re-stylization of design into Huari's Cruz Pata, Chakipampa and Ocros styles. Thus, Huarpa was a well established, defensible society that fostered the continuity of population growth and exploration into the Andes.

          Menzel's interpretation of Epoch 1 Huari development included a strong continuity of religious beliefs originating with Nasca culture. However, she is also quite clear that the "Huari religion appeared in the Ayacucho Basin in Middle Horizon Epoch 1A" and overshadowed the Nasca cultural influence though "it did not obliterate it" (Menzel 1977:52). Thus, the Huari religion represents a blending or syncretism of local "pagan" interests, with ancient though waning Nasca artistic techniques and altiplano pantheon religions. The latter two shared a religious conviction toward ritual trophy head sacrifices. One must wonder whose heads were being decapitated and if Huarpa populations were victims rather than peaceful trading partners with the Nascans. Since the data in the present paper appears to be only Epoch 1 and perhaps Epoch 2A in nature, the following analysis and discussion will focus on the antecedents and initial development of the Huari religious cult.

Test Implications

          The Middle Horizon has been recognized since Uhle's first implication that Tiwanaku based art was a pan-Andean style with direct cultural ties to Pachacamac art. Since the 1950s the site of Huari has been researched as an alternative center to Tiwanaku from which the Middle Horizon phenomena emanated. With the existence of two extraordinary complex societies assigned to one time period, the ultimate problem facing MH researchers is to delineate and correlate any evidence of contact and interaction between these two populations. The major hindrance to detecting such evidence is the temporal unit of analysis in use, "horizon". This term forces scholars to view the evidence of the both cultures as simultaneous. Unfortunately, the Middle Horizon is estimated to span 400 years, so "simultaneity" becomes rather meaningless. Menzel's research broke this unit of analysis into shorter temporal units or "epochs" that make correlations possible. These epochs are still estimated at 50 to 100 years leaving the small number of offerings generations apart. This dilemma requires a model that tests the archaeological data as representative of smaller units of analysis representative of a more detailed sequence of events. By refining the seriation of stylistic references in the art of Huari and Tiwanaku, the ancient pieces of their puzzling relationship may be discerned.

The 1977 Conchopata Excavation

          The accidental discovery of a large "offering deposit" of 23 face neck jars led to several weeks of excavation and recovery of burials and ceramic remains (Figure: face neck jars). Two units of stratified deposition were excavated on either side the offering deposit, Unit A and Unit C (Figure: excavated units). Ceramics from these units included other Conchopata style pottery as well as 1942 and 1977 examples. Analysis of the stylistic changes in the pottery and the temporal order of its deposition may aid in refining the events of Huari's religious development.

          After the initial changes in Huarpa to Huari style iconography that depicted numerous animal motifs, a second iconographic change in Huari art is the depiction of anthropomorphic mythical beings as shown on the Tello urns or the Conchopata style and assigned to Epoch IA (Menzel 1964). These mythical beings have no antecedent stylistic source in the Huari area. The question here is whether Huari artisans were responsible for the replacement of the iconography of mythical icons having animal attributes by mythical icons having human attributes. A few sherds from Conchopata excavations provide evidence for a possible interpretation of events. At Conchopata stratified refuse layers in one long excavation trench (Isbell 1987: Fig. 9) contained many Chakipampa B ceramics and a few sherds from Conchopata style vessels. The depth of occupational refuse associated with Chakipampa pottery averaged one meter at Conchopata. In Units A and C the strata into which the elaborate offering of face-necked jars was deposited contained pottery examples of large urns with poorly executed chevron bands at the rim, simple face-necked jars with the pendent rectangle design on the cheek area and other Chakipampa B pottery with a black background. This evidence indicates that Huari occupants settled the area before the introduction of this offering. Above these strata, the next stratum, which may have existed prior to the face-necked jar offering, contained pottery examples of fancy Chakipampa B style icons of the ventrally-extended, triangular-tailed creature and Ayacucho serpent, designs of vertical and horizontal chevron bands, symmetrical rays, recurved-rays, s-shaped rays, and straight-sided open bowls with vertical wall angles, and, again, simple face-necked jars. In Unit X, this stratum's sample included one sherd from the face-necked jar offering, but this sherd came from an excavation unit 6 meters south and perhaps occurred due to ancient surface disturbance.

          Of great importance is one sherd from this stratum that shows part of a Conchopata style angel icon. The partial design has a tripartite plume on a short, horizontal, 3-fillet stem connected to a mouth with interlocking canines, a nose as a circled dot, and a small rectangular section of the headdress above the nose. This example is not duplicated in the 1942 Tello excavated sample.

          The next stratum above was an occupation surface of hard-packed sandy soil. This stratum contained more Chakipampa B ceramics. Cut into these last two strata just north of the offering was a trench, presumably for a wall, which was filled with Chakipampa B sherds and two Conchopata style sherds. One of the latter shows a section of the bodiless angel head identical to those found on pottery from the Tello excavation (Spielvogel 1955: Pl. 55; Cook 1987: Fig. 38). The second contains a section of another variation of the angel icons in which the nose was drawn as a curl and the tripartite plume caps a single-fillet band that curves up from the mouth in front of the nose. These examples suggest that other offering deposits may exist, and that the offering of smashed urns excavated by Tello occurred after the offering of the face-necked jars and long after the beginning of Wari occupation.

Sources of the Epoch 2 Iconography

          Given this chronology of events and the intrusive nature of the offering pottery, I suggest that this second iconographic development came from a population foreign to Wari artisans. As stated above, the Central Deity Theme represents more ancient iconography (Bennett 1954: Fig.30). J. Rowe (1977) elaborated upon the origins of the deity figure with plumes radiating from its head and the numerous creature configurations and design elements that came from ChavÌn (J. Rowe 1967), an Early Horizon site in the north highlands, and Pucara (Rowe and Brandel 1971), an Early Intermediate Period site located 50 km northwest of Lake Titicaca. Who maintained and reintroduced this ancient iconography?

          In the Wari excavation of stratified occupational refuse, Chakipampa B pottery fragments of face-necked jars provide evidence that potters were depicting individuals with long black hair, black side-burns, head bands with a chevron band design, and cheek designs or tattoos of rectangles divided into vertical bands of different colors. Similar individuals were depicted on the large face-necked jars in the Conchopata B style offering deposit yet with more elaborate facial designs, mustache and chin whisker attributes, or nothing at all (Cook 1987; See Figures of face neck jars). On the bodies of the jars, artists painted the Central Deity Theme. These renditions were transcribed in a highly abstract manner in which many details are correctly included yet incorrectly drawn when compared to the examples excavated in 1942. I suggest that the Wari artisans were at this time not in direct contact with the source of this iconography that the iconography was transferred linguistically by these elite individuals with chevron band headdresses and was then reinterpreted by the artisans.

          The face-necked jars with the Central Deity Theme present an interesting though difficult problem in correlating the events at Huari with its neighboring populations that also shared the ceremonial iconography. Based on stylistic analysis of excavated ceramics from a stratified deposit at Huari, Knobloch (1983) presented a scenario of events slightly different from Menzel's. Chakipampa style and Ocros style ceramics of Epoch 1A occurred in the lower levels followed by the gradual introduction of the Epoch 1B variations of those styles. There was, however, a lack of the fancy Chakipampa 1A recognized by Menzel to be stylistically linked to the Nasca 9 style as found on the south coast. This fancy pottery was represented by a cache of sherds found at the site of Ruda Qasa in southern Ayacucho on the Acuchimay hillside (Menzel 1964, Lumbreras 1960). Ceramics representing the stylistic attributes of vessel shapes, animal design elements and colors of the fancy Chakipampa 1A style began to appear in the upper levels as Epoch 1B examples began to appear. This correlation suggested that the Fancy Chakipampa 1A style was the result of the stylistic development during Epoch 1B and then reintroduced into south coast art by late Epoch 1B. Further ramifications implicated the temporal designation of the Conchopata style pottery dated by Menzel to Epoch 1A because of design similarities to the Ruda Qasa ceramics and known as the Tello ofrenda, to also be moved to late Epoch 1B. The Tello ofrenda pottery urns also display the Central Deity Theme with great details of design and considerably larger repertoire of icons. Among the depictions is a human form, possibly a shaman or priest, wearing a 4-cornered hat. All depictions of this textile in ceramics is found at Huari in association with Epoch 2 style pottery (Bennett 1953, Knobloch 1989) and thus, it may even be possible to date the Tello ofrenda to Epoch 2. This new chronology also resolves the problem Menzel addressed in trying to connect the religious theme of her Epoch 1A Tello ofrenda with her Epoch 2A Ayapata ofrenda by removing the non-existent developmental gap of no ofrenda data dating to Epoch 1B at Huari. Though this data was first presented over two decades ago, published several times (Knobloch 1983, 1989, 1991, 2000) and presented at professional meetings, researchers involved with analyzing Huari ceramics continue to use Menzel's chronology (Isbell and Cook 1987). Only recently, with radiocarbon dates, was the Knobloch chronology confirmed (Isbell and Cook 2001). Cook's research relies on the Tello 1942 ofrenda and the 1977 face-necked jar ofrenda dating to Epoch 1A and 1B respectively and created a "transformation model" based on this chronology to explain Middle Horizon prehistory (Cook 1983, 1994).

          The 1942 ofrenda sherds indicate: 1) front facing deities with staffs are either belted and beltless; 2) profile facing attendants are depicted standing, floating with or without wings, and bodiless; and, 3) humans are depicted as guards or priests, miniature and large captives, and as trophy heads at the bottom of staffs. The 1977 face neck jars display: 1) front facing deities with belts; 2) running/kneeling profile facing attendants; 3) ventrally viewed "stinger" creature with trophy heads derived from Nasca textiles (Dawson 1980: personal communication; He identified two Nasca textiles depicting this creature as Nasca 6 (D'Harcourt 1962:Plate 7) and Nasca 9 (D'Harcourt 1962:Plate 4)); 4) small and large humped-back animals identified by Menzel as Epoch 1B which, in turn, dated the ofrenda; and, 5) checkered hand prints. The faces are modeled into different individuals and not mold made and all wear a chevron band around the top of the head. Some have cheek decorations, most have a mustache and circular chin beard. The dating of this 1977 ofrenda's Nasca related icons will be discussed later.

          Rowe (1971:117) stated that the Linares lintel is the only example from Tiwanaku that displays floating profile attendants with crossed fangs: "This lintel is in a slightly earlier style than other Tiahuanaco sculptures, judging from the developments in the Huari area." The Kantataita lintel was discovered after 1971 and also displays floating profile attendants with crossed fangs. Rowe acknowledged ChavÌn ideas and conventions in Huari and Tiwanaku, but did not suggest that archaism is a possible cause due to the 800 -1000 year gap. He concluded that Paracas and Pucara do not provide adequate examples either: "staff God pose...accompanied by angel figures, yet running figures holding staffs...are fairly common, and may represent angels in isolation" (Rowe 1971:120). He pointed to artistic confusion "of the religious and mythical vocabulary" in Tiwanaku art and suggested that antecedents may yet be discovered, especially since the sample size is so small. He observed two key differences between Huari and Tiwanaku that suggest different antecedents, Huari art displays crossed fangs and the split-face design and Tiwanaku art does not. Menzel dated the Linares as Epoch 1 by associating it to her Tello "Angel A". Cook does the same but relabeled "Angel A" with Valc·rcel's label, "sacrificer".

          The early to middle Epoch 1B ceramics from the Huari excavation also produced the earliest examples of Huari style face-necked jars. They are similar to the earlier Huarpa style face necked jars in terms of the slight amount of facial modeling and positioning on the neck of wide mouthed jars. These jars show a human face with pendent rectangle design on the cheeks, chevron band around the top of the head and black hair and sideburns. The vessels document the appearance of Huari individuals who may represent the initial creators of a new religious cult. By middle Epoch 1B, the faces displayed a forehead band of symmetrical bicolor rays and mythical iconography on the body. Here's the structure and blank canvas on which later Middle Horizon mythology would eventually be displayed - the human form. This chosen convention continues to display the mythology on the face necked jars of the 1977 ofrenda and eventually on stele in the altiplano region of Tiwanaku.

Conclusion
         
Much of the iconographic similarities recognized on artifacts at spatially diverse locations is often attributed to textile transfer. Indeed this media offers a rich and flexible canvas for a weaver to weave grand images and tiny details with a full color palette. Textiles are terribly scarce in the Huari area so they represent a special "black box" solution. Another "black box" solution that could be just as likely without too strong an accusation of speculation is the weaving of tales or "storytelling" of mythology, superstitions and legends. Linguistic knowledge of Middle Horizon suggests several distinct groups (Torero 1970, 1987) and the archaeological isolation of many groups during the Early Intermediate Period would certainly have inculcated each region's dialects, syntax as well as exploration and development of iconic ideograms. The fact that the 1977 ofrenda with deities and "spirit animals" appears close to the engraved snuff tablets and stone stele but very abstract could be the result of linguistic misunderstandings or reinterpretations in the transfer of stories.

*Title is a rendition of John Rowe's "What Kind of Settlement Was Inca Cuzco?".