Part of a collection of chert and obsidian stone blade and projectile points, used as ritualistic or prestige burial items, and possibly as tools or weapons. The arrow shaped blade is made from a lustrous obsidian, the notched shoulders enabling this blade to be easily hafted to a shaft as a spear or projectile. Obsidian was revered for its naturally glassy surface that fractured into razor sharp edges.
Lou purchased this painting from an auction in 2016. The artist, Keegan Starlight, is from the TsuuT’ina nation located 10 minutes outside of Calgary Alberta. More info on Keegan can be seen here https://rawartists.com/keeganstarlight.
First – An example of a cylindrical mace head that is hand-carved from dense black-hued stone. The bulky weapon features rows of protruding nodules that encircle the exterior surface, and a biconically drilled socketing hole enabled the head to be securely fastened to the end of a pole. Size: 3.625″ W x 3.9″ H.
Second, with radiating spirals – A grey stone mace head, with a squat form and a tapered central socket. The exterior widens abruptly into a discoid shape with diagonally radiating spikes flowing down its sides. Significantly, the Chavin culture does not seem to have been warlike, and their cultural expansions across the landscape was not violent – at least as far as archaeologists can find – until the very end of the period, when maces like this suddenly become evident. Was this an actual weapon used in war? Or was this a status symbol made to be put into a grave? Many mysteries about this early culture remain. Size: 4.05″ W x 3.55″ H.
Finely carved from a single piece of hard black/brown basalt and polished to have a smooth surface on the interior, raised designs on the exterior. Exterior skillfully carved with repeated claw-like motifs reminiscent of the stone clavas found from this culture. Size: 8.625″ W x 3.5″ H
Feline – A kero (quero), a small cylindrical vessel depicting a figure known variously as the “underworld feline” or the “Nazca Cat Demon” in a repeated register around the body. Interestingly, the Nazca probably were not very familiar with wild cats – the only feline native to their homeland is the pampas cat, which in life is quite small. Pierce feline creatures in iconography may have come to the Nazca from contact with other Puruvian cultures. Size: 4.25″ W x 4.2″ H.
Snakes – A thin-walled pottery vessel, painted with an abstract textile-inspired pattern on interlocking snakes delineated in red and cream hues, the interior slip painted in red. Serpents were a fascinating element of Pre-Columbian iconography as snakes were thought to be beneficial sources of nourishment and at the same time were quite deadly with their poisonous venom. Also important to the indigenous was the fact that snakes shed their skin annually thus rejuvenating themselves and serving as symbols of renewal and good health. Size: 5.125″ W x 3.125″ H.
