Page:The Incas of Peru.djvu/44

26 sides there is a riband ending in a beast's head, and two rays ending in circles on either side of it, making a total of ten bands or rays on the sides of the head. Under the head the central band ends with a larger circle, having two smaller ones on either side of it. This makes a total of twenty-two ribands surrounding the head. It is not improbable that they may be intended to represent rays, like those of the sun, but their differences and arrangement also point to some symbolical meaning.

This central figure further has a riband passing round the neck and down to the belt, on either side of the breast. The parts on the breast have three divisions similarly marked on either side. On the upper one there are four small circles, on the next a small circle and two figures like a V, and on the lower division there is a diamond-shaped figure with another within it. I am inclined to think that these curious carvings are intended to represent emblems of months or seasons. In the centre of the breast, between the bands, there is a conventional ornament of two bands ending in heads of birds, and over them another symbol of a month or season. The belt round the figure consists of a band with three billets, terminating at each end with a beast's head.  The arms issue from the sides in a curve, with human heads hanging from the elbows. The hands, showing three fingers and a thumb, grasp sceptres. Below the hands the two sceptres are 