Rare Bolivian Wankarani Sandstone Llama Head Relief

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Fine Antiquities | Ethnographica | Fine Art

By Artemis Gallery

May 19, 2022

Set Reminder 2022-05-19 10:00:00 2022-05-19 10:00:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : Fine Antiquities | Ethnographica | Fine Art https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/artemis-gallery/fine-antiquities-ethnographica-fine-art-9350
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• Lot Description
  Pre-Columbian, Western Bolivia, Central Andes, Altiplano / Collao / Andean Plateau, Cercado Province (Oruro), Wankarani Culture, Formative Period, ca. 1500 BCE to 400 CE. Wow! An incredibly rare sandstone relief of a llama head boasting natural hues of rose taupe and tan. The stylized animal presents minimalist features with a huge pair of recessed, rectangular eyes above a large mouth held open. The area above the head is bifurcated, suggesting that a pair of ears previously towered over the abstract visage. Stone llama heads, like this example, are the most famous components of Wankarani ritual life and have been found both on house floors and grouped together in caches outside Wankarani houses. Size: 9.9" W x 13.2" H (25.1 cm x 33.5 cm); 13.4" H (34 cm) on included custom stand.
  
  Wankarani culture was a formative period culture of the altiplano highlands in Bolivia's Oruro Department that pre-dates the Tiahuanaco Empire. Existing from 1500 BCE to 400 CE, Wankarani is the earliest known sedentary culture in Bolivia. According to Timothy L. McAndrews, "The Formative Period (ca. 2000 B.C.–250 A.D.) in the Andean altiplano was characterized by several societal developments including the first sedentary lifeways, newly domesticated plants (potatoes and quinoa) and animals (llama and alpaca), the earliest pottery and metal (copper) technologies, and the emergence of more complex social organization (Burger 1992; Moseley 1992; Kolata 1993). The Wankarani is a Formative Period archaeological complex in the south-central Andean altiplano that exhibits these developments, representing the earliest known agricultural village-based settlement in the southern altiplano." ("Wankarani Settlement Systems in Evolutionary Perspective: A Study in Early Village-Based Society and Long-Term Cultural Evolution in the South-Central Andean Altiplano," University of Pittsburgh Memoirs in Latin American Archaeology no. 15 [2005]: pp. 1)
  
  Cf. Museo Virtual Bolivia, 370 and 376, Margaret Young-Sanchez, "Introduction" in "Tiwanaku: Ancestors of the Inca," (Denver: Denver Art Museum, 2004): pp. 14, fig. 1.3; Timothy L. McAndrews, "Wankarani Settlement Systems in Evolutionary Perspective: A Study in Early Village-Based Society and Long-Term Cultural Evolution in the South-Central Andean Altiplano," University of Pittsburgh Memoirs in Latin American Archaeology no. 15 (2005): pp. 30, fig. 7; Marc Bermann and Jose Estevez Castillo, "Domestic Artifact Assemblages and Ritual Activities in the Bolivian Formative," Journal of Field Archaeology 22, no. 4 (1995): pp. 390, fig. 2; and John Wasson, "Preliminary report on the investigations of the 'Mounds' of Oruro, Bolivia," Khana, La Paz, Bolivia (March 1967): pp. 7.
  
  Provenance: private Hawaii, USA collection, 1995 to 2010; ex-private Hans Juergen Westermann collection, Germany, collected from 1950 to 1960s
  
  All items legal to buy/sell under U.S. Statute covering cultural patrimony Code 2600, CHAPTER 14, and are guaranteed to be as described or your money back.
  
  A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all winning bids.
  
  PLEASE NOTE: Due to recent increases of shipments being seized by Australian & German customs (even for items with pre-UNESCO provenance), we will no longer ship most antiquities and ancient Chinese art to Australia & Germany. For categories of items that are acceptable to ship to Australia or Germany, please contact us directly or work with your local customs brokerage firm.
  
  Display stands not described as included/custom in the item description are for photography purposes only and will not be included with the item upon shipping.
  
  #170971

  Condition

  Losses to ears. Expected chips, nicks, and abrasions throughout. Otherwise, excellent with light earthen deposits throughout.
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