**1. Introduction**

Structural analysis of Diaguita visual art [1] revealed certain decorative patterns (the predominance of abstract designs, the heavy use of symmetry, and the presence of spotted feline representations). The designs' minimal units and symmetrical structure have been shown to be sensitive to issues of group identity and cultural interaction processes [2], in which each culture selects and appropriates a limited number of symmetries that form a specific universe of socially recognized forms, and only these are approved for use.

Pre-Inca Diaguita art displays a series of traits that allow it to be considered representative of a specific South American shamanic art tradition. Notable among these traits are the association of the designs with an alter ego (jaguar or spotted feline), the practice of hallucinogenic consumption, and the development of non-figurative visual art featuring complex symmetry. The image of a spotted feline (jaguar) has been recorded from the Diaguita II phase on duck-shaped pitchers, zoomorphic serving bowls (**Figure 1**), and spatulas used for the consumption of hallucinogenic substances.

Evidence that Diaguita culture engaged in this practice includes tubes and spatulas, as well as the scallop shells that held the psychoactive substance itself (**Figure 2**).

The Diaguita culture developed in the semi-arid region of what is now Northern Chile, between the Elqui and Choapa rivers. The Diaguita were skilful potters who developed an abstract, symmetrical visual art style that was tremendously complex and beautiful. The variety, extraordinary complexity, and intricate composition of Diaguita ceramic designs comprise one of the most stunning visual universes of the pre-Colombian Americas (**Figure 3**). Two phases can be clearly identified in the development of this pre-Colombian people—a pre-Inca period (900–1470 A.D.) and a period of Diaguita-Inca contact (1470–1536 A.D.)—each with its own characteristic style of visual art.

Before Inca contact, the Diaguita were a peasant society with little social stratification, in which the family served as the basic social unit. The Diaguita of this phase practised small-scale farming and adapted to their environment without altering it significantly. They had a disperse settlement pattern, which suggests that they managed space through kinship-based residential units that occupied the transverse

**Figure 1.** *Diaguita zoomorphic serving bowl (spotted feline). Grave 62, El Olivar site.*

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**tradition**

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

(East-West) valleys of their territory. As the basic social units, individual families practised small-scale farming to provide for their members, forming communities

*Male accompanied by spatula, tube, and shell for consuming psychoactive substances. Grave 99, El Olivar site.*

Evidence from pre-Inca Diaguita burial contexts in the Choapa Valley [3] has shown that there was little social differentiation in these communities, at least in regard to burial practices, as the nature and distribution of ceramic grave goods was largely homogeneous across age and gender. However, the presence of offerings associated with the consumption of hallucinogenic substances (spatulas and scallop shells) indicates that certain males—who have been interpreted as shamans—seem

In terms of social organization, researchers have affirmed [4] that the Diaguita

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

had a dual social structure, with groups organized in complementary halves, similar to several pre-Hispanic and present-day Andean and Amazonian societies. Ethnohistoric evidence indicates that, at the time of the Spanish arrival, the

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

that were both economically self-sufficient and politically autonomous.

to have occupied a slightly different social category (**Figure 4**).

Diaguita were organized into dual *señoríos* (chiefdoms).

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

*Duck-shaped pitchers (Diaguita II phase). Museo del Limarí N°31.*

**Figure 3.**

**Figure 4.**

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

**Figure 3.** *Duck-shaped pitchers (Diaguita II phase). Museo del Limarí N°31.*

#### **Figure 4.**

*Ecosystem and Biodiversity of Amazonia*

teristic style of visual art.

practice of hallucinogenic consumption, and the development of non-figurative visual art featuring complex symmetry. The image of a spotted feline (jaguar) has been recorded from the Diaguita II phase on duck-shaped pitchers, zoomorphic serving bowls (**Figure 1**), and spatulas used for the consumption of hallucinogenic substances. Evidence that Diaguita culture engaged in this practice includes tubes and spatulas, as well as the scallop shells that held the psychoactive substance itself (**Figure 2**). The Diaguita culture developed in the semi-arid region of what is now Northern Chile, between the Elqui and Choapa rivers. The Diaguita were skilful potters who developed an abstract, symmetrical visual art style that was tremendously complex and beautiful. The variety, extraordinary complexity, and intricate composition of Diaguita ceramic designs comprise one of the most stunning visual universes of the pre-Colombian Americas (**Figure 3**). Two phases can be clearly identified in the development of this pre-Colombian people—a pre-Inca period (900–1470 A.D.) and a period of Diaguita-Inca contact (1470–1536 A.D.)—each with its own charac-

Before Inca contact, the Diaguita were a peasant society with little social stratification, in which the family served as the basic social unit. The Diaguita of this phase practised small-scale farming and adapted to their environment without altering it significantly. They had a disperse settlement pattern, which suggests that they managed space through kinship-based residential units that occupied the transverse

*Spatula, tube, and shell used for consuming psychoactive substances. Grave 99, El Olivar site.*

*Diaguita zoomorphic serving bowl (spotted feline). Grave 62, El Olivar site.*

**112**

**Figure 2.**

**Figure 1.**

*Male accompanied by spatula, tube, and shell for consuming psychoactive substances. Grave 99, El Olivar site.*

(East-West) valleys of their territory. As the basic social units, individual families practised small-scale farming to provide for their members, forming communities that were both economically self-sufficient and politically autonomous.

Evidence from pre-Inca Diaguita burial contexts in the Choapa Valley [3] has shown that there was little social differentiation in these communities, at least in regard to burial practices, as the nature and distribution of ceramic grave goods was largely homogeneous across age and gender. However, the presence of offerings associated with the consumption of hallucinogenic substances (spatulas and scallop shells) indicates that certain males—who have been interpreted as shamans—seem to have occupied a slightly different social category (**Figure 4**).

In terms of social organization, researchers have affirmed [4] that the Diaguita had a dual social structure, with groups organized in complementary halves, similar to several pre-Hispanic and present-day Andean and Amazonian societies. Ethnohistoric evidence indicates that, at the time of the Spanish arrival, the Diaguita were organized into dual *señoríos* (chiefdoms).
