Note 130 — Chapter VII

Tello, "Los antiguos cementerios del valle de Nasca," p. 287, suggests three criteria by means of which the mythological nature of such figures is to be inferred: When symbolical attributes are indicated by the animal's carrying mystical or thaumaturgical objects; when the figure retains, through a variety of representations, certain constant, individualizing traits; and when the same image is used repeatedly on the more notable types of cultural and artistic objects. Señor Tello believes Nasca religion to have been totemic in character.