Although the Incans valued gold and silver, it was for their beauty and symbolism alone. When the Spanish conquered Peru, the first ransom offerings were the finest textiles, rather than gold or silver, just as the Incans offered textiles as gifts on entering new territory.¹ Both cloth and metal were expressions of power. Gold, in particular, was important as it represented the sun’s brilliance and immutability: unlike silver and copper, its appearance and shine were not compromised by oxidation. Silver symbolised the moon. Precious metals were used to decorate buildings and to adorn royal bodies and clothing, for rituals and grave goods. Only the Inca nobility could use gold, and its distribution was controlled by the emperor alone. Almost every important metal object was stolen and melted down by the conquistadors, so very little Inca gold survives. Most common are tiny gold and silver figures of naked women and men, which were grave offerings. They seem to represent the young women and men who would accompany the dead.

The Incans learned much from their vanquished subjects from the Kingdom of Chimor. Chimú metalsmiths were taken to Cuzco to create the Curicancha, the Sun Temple, witnessed in the 1540s by the Spaniard Pedro Cieza de Leon:

where there was an image of the sun of great size made of gold, beautifully wrought and set with many precious stones … There was a garden in which the very earth was lumps of fine gold, and it was cunningly planted with stalks of maize that were of gold—stalk leaves, and ears … Aside from this there were more than twenty llamas and their ewes with the Indian shepards who guarded them … all of metal.²

Figures such as these were cast or made of sheet metal, joined at the sides. They usually stand with hands joined across the chest, or sometimes hold an object such as an ear of maize or a fan. Some clothed figures have been found, wearing textiles and feathers. More common are pairs of small gold and silver figures, perhaps signifying day and night—metal beings in eternal attendance upon the dead.

Christine Dixon


1. John Murra, ‘La función de tejido en varios contextos sociales y politicos’, in his Formaciones económicas y políticas del mundo andino, Lima: Instituto de Estudios Peruanos 1975, p. 170, cited in Tom Cummins, ‘Queros, aquillas, uncus, and chulpas: The composition of Inka artistic expression and power’, in Richard L. Burger et al. (eds), Variations in the expression of Inka power: A symposium at Dumbarton Oaks 18 and 19 October 1997, Washington D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks 2007, p. 277

2. The Incas of Pedro Cieza de Leon, Victor W. von Hagen (ed.), Harriet de Onis (trans.), Norman, Okla.: The University of Oklahoma Press 1959, quoted in Victor W. von Hagen, The desert kingdoms of Peru, London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson 1965, p. 87. The Curicancha or Qurikancha is rendered in many spellings.

Although the Incans valued gold and silver, it was for their beauty and symbolism alone. When the Spanish conquered Peru, the first ransom offerings were the finest textiles, rather than gold or silver, just as the Incans offered textiles as gifts on entering new territory.¹ Both cloth and metal were expressions of power. Gold, in particular, was important as it represented the sun’s brilliance and immutability: unlike silver and copper, its appearance and shine were not compromised by oxidation. Silver symbolised the moon. Precious metals were used to decorate buildings and to adorn royal bodies and clothing, for rituals and grave goods. Only the Inca nobility could use gold, and its distribution was controlled by the emperor alone. Almost every important metal object was stolen and melted down by the conquistadors, so very little Inca gold survives. Most common are tiny gold and silver figures of naked women and men, which were grave offerings. They seem to represent the young women and men who would accompany the dead.

The Incans learned much from their vanquished subjects from the Kingdom of Chimor. Chimú metalsmiths were taken to Cuzco to create the Curicancha, the Sun Temple, witnessed in the 1540s by the Spaniard Pedro Cieza de Leon:

where there was an image of the sun of great size made of gold, beautifully wrought and set with many precious stones … There was a garden in which the very earth was lumps of fine gold, and it was cunningly planted with stalks of maize that were of gold—stalk leaves, and ears … Aside from this there were more than twenty llamas and their ewes with the Indian shepards who guarded them … all of metal.²

Figures such as these were cast or made of sheet metal, joined at the sides. They usually stand with hands joined across the chest, or sometimes hold an object such as an ear of maize or a fan. Some clothed figures have been found, wearing textiles and feathers. More common are pairs of small gold and silver figures, perhaps signifying day and night—metal beings in eternal attendance upon the dead.

Christine Dixon


1. John Murra, ‘La función de tejido en varios contextos sociales y politicos’, in his Formaciones económicas y políticas del mundo andino, Lima: Instituto de Estudios Peruanos 1975, p. 170, cited in Tom Cummins, ‘Queros, aquillas, uncus, and chulpas: The composition of Inka artistic expression and power’, in Richard L. Burger et al. (eds), Variations in the expression of Inka power: A symposium at Dumbarton Oaks 18 and 19 October 1997, Washington D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks 2007, p. 277

2. The Incas of Pedro Cieza de Leon, Victor W. von Hagen (ed.), Harriet de Onis (trans.), Norman, Okla.: The University of Oklahoma Press 1959, quoted in Victor W. von Hagen, The desert kingdoms of Peru, London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson 1965, p. 87. The Curicancha or Qurikancha is rendered in many spellings.