**2. Diaguita Pre-Inca visual art and South American shamanic art tradition**

Aspects such as the optical illusion of movement and vibration (**Figure 5**); interminable variability based on simple geometric forms (**Figure 6a**–**c**); *horror vacui* (**Figure 7**); hypnotic attraction (**Figure 8**); positive/negative views (**Figure 9**), and

**Figure 5.**

*Optical illusion of movement and vibration. Diaguita F2-2 wave pattern ([1], p. 118).*

#### **Figure 6.**

*Interminable variability based on simple geometric forms. (a) Diaguita C5 wave pattern ([1] p.111); (b) Diaguita C6 wave pattern ([1], p.111; (c) Diaguita C7 wave pattern ([1], p.112).*

**115**

**Figure 10.**

*Choapa Valley.*

*Shipibo Conibo and Chilean Diaguita Visual Art: Cognitive Technologies, Shamanism and Long…*

designs organized according to the principle of gradual structural complexification,

Recent investigations have made headway in identifying Diaguita rock art in the Limarí and Choapa river basins [5, 6]. Certain rock art representations (petroglyphs) have been attributed to the Diaguita culture on the basis of their formal similarities with Diaguita ceramic designs, both in terms of motifs and minimal units (labyrinth, stepped designs and stepped fret borders, for example) as well as in regard to the complex symmetrical operations performed by the creators. On this rock support we find the same visual logic that is recorded on Diaguita ceramic decoration, which is

marked by its abstract character and complex symmetry (**Figure 10**).

practice of hallucinogenic consumption (**Figure 11**).

Our comparative examination of Diaguita art and other South American ethnographic visual art styles linked to shamanic religions, especially those of the Amazonian Tukano [7], Shipibo-Conibo [8], and Caduveo [9] cultures, reveals a set of shared characteristics [10]. Two common external associations of these visual art traditions are the reference to an animal *alter ego* (jaguar, anaconda, feline) and the

*Diaguita rock art. (a) Diaguita labyrinth pattern, Choapa Valley; (b) Diaguita double zigzag pattern,* 

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.93984*

*Nearly hypnotic attraction. Diaguita A2 labyrinth pattern ([1], p. 152]).*

*Positive/negative designs. Diaguita stepped motifs, reflection B ([1] p. 149).*

among other features.

**Figure 8.**

**Figure 9.**

**Figure 7.** *Horror vacui. Diaguita J 1-1 wave pattern ([1], p. 123).*

*Shipibo Conibo and Chilean Diaguita Visual Art: Cognitive Technologies, Shamanism and Long… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.93984*

#### **Figure 8.**

*Ecosystem and Biodiversity of Amazonia*

**114**

**Figure 7.**

*Horror vacui. Diaguita J 1-1 wave pattern ([1], p. 123).*

**Figure 6.**

**Figure 5.**

*Interminable variability based on simple geometric forms. (a) Diaguita C5 wave pattern ([1] p.111);* 

*(b) Diaguita C6 wave pattern ([1], p.111; (c) Diaguita C7 wave pattern ([1], p.112).*

*Optical illusion of movement and vibration. Diaguita F2-2 wave pattern ([1], p. 118).*

*Nearly hypnotic attraction. Diaguita A2 labyrinth pattern ([1], p. 152]).*

#### **Figure 9.** *Positive/negative designs. Diaguita stepped motifs, reflection B ([1] p. 149).*

designs organized according to the principle of gradual structural complexification, among other features.

Recent investigations have made headway in identifying Diaguita rock art in the Limarí and Choapa river basins [5, 6]. Certain rock art representations (petroglyphs) have been attributed to the Diaguita culture on the basis of their formal similarities with Diaguita ceramic designs, both in terms of motifs and minimal units (labyrinth, stepped designs and stepped fret borders, for example) as well as in regard to the complex symmetrical operations performed by the creators. On this rock support we find the same visual logic that is recorded on Diaguita ceramic decoration, which is marked by its abstract character and complex symmetry (**Figure 10**).

Our comparative examination of Diaguita art and other South American ethnographic visual art styles linked to shamanic religions, especially those of the Amazonian Tukano [7], Shipibo-Conibo [8], and Caduveo [9] cultures, reveals a set of shared characteristics [10]. Two common external associations of these visual art traditions are the reference to an animal *alter ego* (jaguar, anaconda, feline) and the practice of hallucinogenic consumption (**Figure 11**).

### **Figure 10.**

*Diaguita rock art. (a) Diaguita labyrinth pattern, Choapa Valley; (b) Diaguita double zigzag pattern, Choapa Valley.*

```
Figure 11.
Polychrome vessel with feline representation. Diaguita-Inca phase. Grave 59, El Olivar site.
```
Diaguitas and Shipibos also share the practices of ceramic urn burials, intentional cranial deformation, and the use of "sacrificial" objects in burial contexts. But the most prominent similarities are found in the styles of these South American indigenous art traditions, which employ complex symmetry to articulate the motifs, using three or more inter-operational symmetrical principals, and the frequent use of mirror reflection [10] (**Figure 12**).

For instance, in relation to Shipibo art, De Boer [11] affirms

*"…the basic cross is mastered first. This element is then successively submitted to a number of increasingly complex operations that entail concatenation, repetition, compounding- first in one, then in two dimensions- and finally various partitioning and orientational transformations. The strength of this sequential pattern suggest that a powerful maturational program of the kind famously diagnosed by Piaget [12] is at work."*

Another trait is the endless continuation or the self-generative power of the compositions, which endows them with an outstanding rhythmic quality. In contrast, the principle of *horror vacui* and the sectioning of the designs in delimited fields are also present. Yet another characteristic is the interplay between positive and negative perspectives. The use of (strictly abstract) geometric motifs,

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**Figure 13.**

*Nearly hynotic attraction. Shipibo textil. Paola González collection.*

*Shipibo Conibo and Chilean Diaguita Visual Art: Cognitive Technologies, Shamanism and Long…*

combined with complex symmetrical structures that makes them barely intelligible,

*one of the most important discoveries in the last decades, in the ethnology field consists in the confirmation that art and shaman religions are closely related to the use of hallucinogenic drugs"…"the ingestion of hallucinogenic drugs represents the principal mechanism that induced states of shaman visions, accompanied by the* 

These are elaborate and systematic procedures of graphic creation, visual litanies that generate a hypnotic attraction (**Figure 13**) through designs executed in different media such as facial paint, textile decoration, ceramics, and home decor. In relation to this specific class of South American visual art, present in ethnographic contexts and associated with shamanic practices, Reichel-Dolmatoff ([7], p. 292) has linked the ingestion of psychoactive substances to geometric designs. The author highlights how the hallucinatory experience offers a potentially rich array of symmetrical images, which are then reproduced by the Tukano people

is another characteristic feature of Shipibo visual art [10].

in their art. He comments:

**Figure 12.**

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.93984*

*Mirror reflection. Shipibo textil, Panaillo community.*

*Shipibo Conibo and Chilean Diaguita Visual Art: Cognitive Technologies, Shamanism and Long… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.93984*

**Figure 12.** *Mirror reflection. Shipibo textil, Panaillo community.*

*Ecosystem and Biodiversity of Amazonia*

of mirror reflection [10] (**Figure 12**).

*[12] is at work."*

Diaguitas and Shipibos also share the practices of ceramic urn burials, intentional cranial deformation, and the use of "sacrificial" objects in burial contexts. But the most prominent similarities are found in the styles of these South American indigenous art traditions, which employ complex symmetry to articulate the motifs, using three or more inter-operational symmetrical principals, and the frequent use

*"…the basic cross is mastered first. This element is then successively submitted to a number of increasingly complex operations that entail concatenation, repetition, compounding- first in one, then in two dimensions- and finally various partitioning and orientational transformations. The strength of this sequential pattern suggest that a powerful maturational program of the kind famously diagnosed by Piaget* 

Another trait is the endless continuation or the self-generative power of the compositions, which endows them with an outstanding rhythmic quality. In

contrast, the principle of *horror vacui* and the sectioning of the designs in delimited fields are also present. Yet another characteristic is the interplay between positive and negative perspectives. The use of (strictly abstract) geometric motifs,

For instance, in relation to Shipibo art, De Boer [11] affirms

*Polychrome vessel with feline representation. Diaguita-Inca phase. Grave 59, El Olivar site.*

**116**

**Figure 11.**

combined with complex symmetrical structures that makes them barely intelligible, is another characteristic feature of Shipibo visual art [10].

These are elaborate and systematic procedures of graphic creation, visual litanies that generate a hypnotic attraction (**Figure 13**) through designs executed in different media such as facial paint, textile decoration, ceramics, and home decor.

In relation to this specific class of South American visual art, present in ethnographic contexts and associated with shamanic practices, Reichel-Dolmatoff ([7], p. 292) has linked the ingestion of psychoactive substances to geometric designs. The author highlights how the hallucinatory experience offers a potentially rich array of symmetrical images, which are then reproduced by the Tukano people in their art. He comments:

*one of the most important discoveries in the last decades, in the ethnology field consists in the confirmation that art and shaman religions are closely related to the use of hallucinogenic drugs"…"the ingestion of hallucinogenic drugs represents the principal mechanism that induced states of shaman visions, accompanied by the* 

**Figure 13.** *Nearly hynotic attraction. Shipibo textil. Paola González collection.*

*illusion of flying through the air, animal transformations and the penetration into other cosmic dimensions, out of this world*

Similarly, among the Shipibo-Conibo people, *kené* designs left on a material support (ceramic, fabric, or wood) suggest designs perceived during shamanic visions resulting from the ingestion of Ayahuasca and believed to hold great healing power. Thus, these symmetrical, non-figurative designs have a therapeutic as well as an esthetic function. For the Shipibo people, the execution of these complex and extraordinarily beautiful designs constitutes a collaboration with the sacred, spiritual realms, erasing the dividing line between religious and esthetic experience. Thus, there is an evident link between shamanic practices, the consumption of hallucinogenic substances (Ayahuasca), and synesthetic healing therapies, which range from the artistic to the musical [8]. Gehbart-Sayer ([6], p. 161) points out:

*the visions of the designs are described as non analytical impressions on "pages" or "sheets", organized in a pattern that flicker rapidly in front of the eyes of the shaman then disappear as soon as he tries to take a closer look.*

This synesthetic quality of South American shamanic art also includes the transition between visual art and music, with the use of symmetry being a common feature in both. Gehbart-Sayer ([8], p. 170) comments, *"symmetry prevails in the formal, melodic, and rhythmic characteristics of the songs. An example of a more complex consonance is the lateral symmetry of melodic inversion."*

In these communities, artistic activity goes hand in hand with the sacred; shamans and female artisans create magical-religious objects, in which esthetic beauty is not an end in itself. For example, the Shipibo-Conibo people believe that individuals are "marked" at birth with invisible decorative patterns. When an individual becomes ill, the healing designs are spiritually projected upon the patient by the shaman to bring them back to a healthy state. The attributing of agency to the symmetrical pattern is evident in the story of Netén Vita (a Shipibo shaman from Caimito), as related by Illius ([13], p. 197). Netén Vita affirms that, in order to heal, the shaman must contact the guardian spirits, who are "the bands of drawings from my heaven (*noco naina kené*)." Furthermore, recent studies of Amazonian peoples have revealed the existence of a series of pan-Amazon beliefs [14, 15], expressed in different stylistic traditions. Such commonalities include the representation of specific animals, particularly jaguars and snakes, as well as abstract art, shamanic practices, and the consumption of hallucinogenic substances. These findings point to a longstanding shared ideology, the common elements of which can be found in both present-day cultures and in the archeological record [14]. Also on the basis of archeological and ethnographic evidence, Roe proposes the existence of a common cosmology within the South American tropical forest, pointing out that, *"with its vast interconnecting web of waterways knitting together similar microenviroments, the Amazonian region is a perfect highway of ideas"* ([14], p. 26).

In terms of the temporal depth of this shamanic art tradition in South America, Taylor ([16], p. 16) affirms that "*it is possible that what we see in the contemporary Amazonian graphic tradition is only the preservation of a tendency present since pre-Colombian times, the fruit of an ancient cultural tradition, of an eminently intellectual, cerebral, elaborate and complex form of art".*

In the paragraphs below, we will examine archeological information which suggests the existence of long-distance relations that played a determining role in Diaguita ethnogenesis. These cultural relations will also explain the cultural linkages that one observes between the Shipibo-Conibo and pre-Hispanic Diaguita peoples, despite their separation in both space and time.

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**3. The Mojocoya culture, a nexus for understanding the cultural linkages** 

Affirming the linkages between the Chilean Diaguita and Peruvian Amazon Shipibo-Conibo peoples (which considers stylistic aspects, social practices, and material culture), and following the arguments of Lathrap [17], González [8] proposed the existence of a common antecedent between the two cultures, namely the Mojocoya culture of the Bolivian lowlands. As the cultural ancestor of the Shipibo people, Lathrap proposes the Cumancaya culture (Alto Ucayali), which also

González [8] confirmed the presence of patterns in Mojocoya iconography that were previously identified in Diaguita iconography, including the Wave A, stepped vertical reflection, and Chain C [1] patterns. The coincidences observed are not limited to the identification of minimal units (stepped borders, triangles combined with scrolling, simple stepped motifs, etc.), but also include symmetrical principles (or groups of them) that make up these units (reflection, displacement combined with translation, double specular reflection, horizontal reflection, rotation, and translation, among others). This structural similarity is a very good indicator of

According to Brockington et al. ([18], p. 4), the Mojocoya culture originated in the Amazon-Chaqueñas lowlands of Bolivia expanded into the areas around the highlands of Cochabamba and Chuquisaca. Based on their ceramics, two phases have been identified: an early, pre-Tiwanaku one (ca. 1-600 A.D.) and a later one (600 – 900 A.D.) that displays the influence of Tiwanaku. Mojocoya designs are executed in black and red on orange, with some use of white. The most frequent motifs include triangles; triangles with scrolling; stepped and triangular stepped motifs with scrolling; and zig-zagging lines in alternating colors, very often organized in bilateral or quadrilateral symmetry. We add to this list recorded examples of the labyrinth pattern A2 [1]. The main ceramic forms include simple convex bowls, tripod bowls, kero cups, and "effigy pieces" [18]. Monochrome ceramics

For the Mojocoya culture, archeologists have noted the practices of child burial in urns, cranial deformation, and the consumption of psychoactive powders. At the El Tambo site (1-600 AD), researchers have found copper bells with folded bases [18], which have also been recorded at Diaguita sites in Chile's semi-arid north. The authors emphasize that the Mojocoya sites are located near traffic routes connecting the Andean and Amazon regions, which would have facilitated the movement of people and goods among different ecozones. Along the same lines, Pereira and Brockington ([19], p. 2) hypothesize that the area southeast of Cochabamba would have operated as a focal point for social complexity, a place where a variety of social processes emerged over time, making it *"an area of historic interplay between environmental factors and Andean, Amazonian, and Chaqueño peoples, with a dynamic that had major repercussions and wielded significant influence* 

**4. New research on the origins of Chilean Diaguita culture: El Olivar** 

In light of the above information about the Mojocoya culture and its ceramic tradition, it is interesting to examine analyses of recent discoveries at the Diaguita site of El Olivar [20, 21], which have identified more stylistic coincidences between

**between the Chilean Diaguita and Shipibo-Conibo peoples**

displays evident parallels with Chilean Diaguita culture.

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.93984*

cultural interrelatedness [2].

include urns and other large vessels.

*even beyond its sphere of interaction as a zone."*

**archeological site**

*Shipibo Conibo and Chilean Diaguita Visual Art: Cognitive Technologies, Shamanism and Long… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.93984*
