chancay

OPPOSITE Numerous societies rose at different times and places in the central Andes. Various traditions can be traced from one to another, with human style figures that took on animal attributes proving to be a popular theme. Here we see an example from 100 BC AD 650, showing a mythical being who adopted the traits of several animals and was associated with a group known as the Nasca.

Peru: a journey in time

The Incas dominate perceptions of Peru’s past, but their empire did not appear out of nowhere. Instead, it drew on traditions and concepts that developed across the central Andes for thousands of years, as Cecilia Pardo and Jago Cooper told Matthew Symonds.