What question did this study set out to answer?

This study aims to analyze the uma tullu motif and its role in communicating imperial values within the Wari Empire.

July 1, 2026Open Access

Matriarchs and Metopism: An Analysis of the Wari Iconographic Representation of the Skull

Key Points

This study aims to analyze the uma tullu motif and its role in communicating imperial values within the Wari Empire.
Analyzed 63 artifacts including ceramic, textile, and metal from the Wari Empire.
Identified diagnostic markers of the uma tullu motif, specifically the metopic suture and red pigment application.
Cross-referenced the motifs with bioarchaeological data to assess cultural implications.
The uma tullu motif served as a central communicative device within Wari culture.
Identification of the metopic suture and red pigments indicates a standardized method of representation.
Findings suggest that this iconography encoded values and practices essential for ideological cohesion.

Abstract

While skeletal imagery appears across various ancient Andean traditions, the Wari Empire (c. 600–1000 CE) developed a uniquely standardized and widespread skull motif—the uma tullu—distributed throughout its former territory. Through an analysis of 63 artifacts spanning ceramic, textile, and metal, this study identifies key diagnostic markers of the motif: the representation of the metopic suture and the application of red pigment. By cross-referencing these stylistic features with bioarchaeological data, the research posits that the uma tullu served as a central communicative device. In the absence of a formal script, this motif may have encoded imperial values and ancestral cult practices, facilitating ideological expansion and state identity. Ultimately, this work demonstrates how standardized iconography functioned as a system of graphic communication and ideological cohesion in the Middle Horizon Andes.

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