Iconography

The iconography of religious and ceremonial objects of both cultures also had certain similarities. There are similar beings wielding double staffs in both groups that seem to be indicative of sun and moon spirits, and are evident throughout the term of their existences. These images are found on Tiwanaku architecture, such as the Gate of the Sun, and on Wari ceramics and pottery. The pantheon of religious icons and deities also appears to have been extended throughout the Inka Empire, with these gods, as well as those of weather and rain, making frequent appearances (Menzel, 1977). The attendants for these gods, often wielding a single staff of their own and with wings, are also present throughout all three cultures’ iconography, as are representations of constellations. The current belief is that the attendants were representative of the constellations, which were important in Inka life and religion, and were part of a belief system which dictated that the deities would travel through the night sky and come down during the day to the Earth (Knobloch, 1989). //Wari vessel with jaguar figures//



//Gate of the Sun at Tihuanaco, portraying "Staff God"//

Certain areas that had fallen under the Tiwanaku Empire, such as Lukurmata and Cochabamba, were continuously occupied, even after the collapse of the empire as a whole. Evidence at the sites indicate that the ceramic style was continued in tradition both in the Wari style, and further in time with the Inka, specifically with keros, or flared vessel cups produced first by the Tiwanaku (Bermann, 1994). Evolved from the earlier Chiripa and Pukara cultures, ceramic styles of the two later civilizations, with images of humans, many images of people in warrior garb and holding sacrificial heads are found. “These kneeling figures eventually became standing and then evolved into the figures that dominated the Classic Tiwanaku and Wari and on into the Inca, when the imagery of ritual power transferred into statecraft” (Hastorf, 2005).