Sherd

This head of a puma is broken off from the rim of a large ceremonial drinking vessel. It is simply but powerfully modelled and its eyes and snout are highlighted in dark brown paint. The people of Tiahuanaco who made this piece lived in the high Andes of southern Peru and northern Bolivia. Pumas were common in these mountainous regions. The ancient Peruvians respected the power and ferocity of the puma and associated it with a mythical creature known as the Moon Monster.