BEFORE THE SEVEN TRADITIONS · LATE ARCHAIC · 3000–1500 BCE

Before Pre-Inca Cultures

A Room Is Not a Genealogy

Caral and Kotosh show that public buildings were constructed in the Andes long before Chavín.

Museum documentation · free public access, no account required.

Clay relief with two arms and crossed hands from the Kotosh temple in Peru — **DECLARED VISUAL RECONSTRUCTION · EXISTING EDITORIAL RESOURCE · TRACEKEEPERS**
Generated reconstruction · Declared visual hypothesis
Declared visual reconstruction for museographic context; it is not a photograph of the original nor documentary evidence.

History and context

"Pre-Inca cultures" is a retrospective editorial label, not a civilisation that existed under that name. During the Late Archaic, coastal and highland communities were already erecting public architecture, coordinating labour, and maintaining networks across ecological zones. Caral-Supe created large coastal centres; at Kotosh, enclosures with hearths and underground ducts organised repeated ceremonies over centuries.

The crossed hands in clay belong to that early world. Later, Chavín, Nazca, Moche, Tiwanaku, Wari and Chimú developed distinct solutions, sometimes contemporary, sometimes separated by centuries. The room compares them without drawing a chain Caral→Chavín→Nazca/Moche→Tiwanaku/Wari→Chimú: there were contacts, transformations and regional discontinuities.

Evidence and interpretation

Documented fact: Kotosh has a long sequence of occupation before and after the Temple of the Crossed Hands. Interpretation and caution: Do not assign sex, divinity or universal meaning to the hands; interpretations of duality, hierarchy or protection are hypotheses, not deciphered readings. Historical transition: The first wing moves from Caral and Kotosh to Chavín; the following wings open parallel chronologies for Nazca and Moche, Tiwanaku and Wari, and finally Chimú. Limit of the transition: Kotosh and Caral must not be described as early Chavín, and none of the seven traditions should be presented as an inevitable step towards the Incas.

Catalogue facts

Previous period: c. 3000–1500 BCE
Sphere of influence: Central Andes of Peru, between coast, highlands and corridors of interregional exchange
Threshold element: Crossed Hands of Kotosh
Element date: Kotosh-Mito Tradition, c. 2200–1500 BCE; the enclosure is usually situated around 1800 BCE.
Location: Temple of the Crossed Hands, Kotosh, Huánuco, Peru
Material or support: Modelled clay on wall
Documented fact 01: Kotosh has a long sequence of occupation before and after the Temple of the Crossed Hands.
Documented fact 02: The enclosures of the Mito tradition are characterised by central hearths and ventilation ducts.
Documented fact 03: The hands are clay reliefs integrated into the architecture, not free-standing sculptures.
Documented fact 04: Caral-Supe demonstrates complex public architecture prior to the Chavín horizon.
Documented fact 05: The exact meaning of the crossed hands gesture remains unknown.
Visual credit: Pitxiquin · CC BY-SA 4.0

A SHARED TOPIC, DIFFERENT MOMENTS

Objects connected through time

Follow a topic across the collections. A shared tag is a way to compare objects, not proof that one culture influenced another.

The order uses the midpoint of each approximate date range; ranges can overlap. Spacing does not represent elapsed time. Swipe, scroll or use the arrows. With the sequence focused, use ← / →, Home or End.

You are viewing

Kotosh-Mito Tradition, c. 2200–1500 BCE; the enclosure is usually situated around 1800 BCE.

Before Pre-Inca Cultures

Pre-Inca cultures

Element tradition interval; "around 1800" orients the enclosure.

Current record

Clay32 dated objects

16 / 32In the centre: Before Pre-Inca Cultures

Also connected, without a comparable date (8)

These objects are not placed after the others: an unknown date does not mean a more recent object.

A White Wall on the DanubeCeltic worlds · 6th century BCE
Blue that does not yieldMaya worlds · Documented use from the Classic, c. 300–1500 CE
Cyrus speaks as king of BabylonAchaemenid Persia · After the conquest of Babylon in 539 BCE
Early potteryMande Worlds · before ca. 9400 cal BCE
Made in GaramaGaramantes · I millennium BCE–I millennium CE
Piece-mold castingAncient China · c. 1600–1046 BCE
The unfinished gestureBatwa / Twa histories · 1947
Vessels without a languageBantu-speaking worlds · Urewe, broad regional range ca. 800 BCE–650 CE

You can scroll the first group without JavaScript. The other topics are also available below.

Sculpture

Lion-man · ≈40,000 years · Aurignacian · Prehistory
Lespugue · ≈28,000 years · Prehistory
Zaraysk Bison · ≈23,000–21,000 years · Prehistory
Shigir Idol · C. 10,000 BCE · approximation; debated dating · Prehistory
Warka Mask · End of the 4th millennium BCE · Sumer
Gebel el-Arak knife · 3600–3200 BCE · Naqada II C–D · Ancient Egypt
Uruk Vase · ca. 3300–3000 BCE · Sumer
Narmer Palette · ca. 3100 BCE · Ancient Egypt
Before Yayoi · Middle Jōmon, ca. 3000 BCE · Yayoi Japan
Ur-Nanshe relief · Mid-3rd millennium BCE · reign of Ur-Nanshe · Sumer
The goat from PG 1237 · ca. 2600–2400 BCE · Sumer
Stele of the Vultures · Towards 2450–2425 BCE · Sumer
Akkadian sovereign head · Akkadian period · 23rd century BCE · Sumer
Bassetki Statue · Akkadian period · 23rd century BCE · Sumer
Naram-Sin Stele · Reign of Naram-Sin, 2254–2218 BCE · Sumer
Before Pre-Inca Cultures · Kotosh-Mito Tradition, c. 2200–1500 BCE; the enclosure is usually situated around 1800 BCE. · Pre-Inca cultures — You are viewing
Queen of the Night · 19th–18th centuries BCE · Sumer
Bull-leaping · c. 1600–1450 BCE · Greek worlds
Wooden faces · c. 1600–1000 BCE, in several phases · Maya worlds
Head 2 · c. 1200–900 BCE · Maya worlds
The voice of Ahiram · c. 11th–10th century BCE · Phoenicians
Before the Scythians and Sakas · Final Bronze–Initial Iron, ca. 1200–600 BCE · Scythians and Saka
Black Obelisk · 825 BCE · Sumer
Ivory in Nimrud · 9th–8th centuries BCE · Phoenicians
Las Limas · c. 1000–600 BCE · Maya worlds
Astarte from El Carambolo · 8th century BCE · Phoenicians
Astarte from El Carambolo · 8th century BCE · Iberians
Lamassu of Khorsabad · Reign of Sargon II · 721–705 BCE · Sumer
The Lanzón · c. 900–500 BCE · Pre-Inca cultures
Stele of Esarhaddon · 7th century BC C. · 671 campaign BCE · Sumer
The so-called ‘Priest of Cádiz’ · 7th century BCE · Phoenicians
The so-called ‘Priest of Cádiz’ · 7th century BCE · Iberians
The Tello Obelisk · c. 800–500 BCE · Pre-Inca cultures
Ashurbanipal Hunt · 645–635 BCE · Sumer
Heads on the wall · c. 800–300 BCE · Pre-Inca cultures
Two voices in an urn · 530–520 BCE · Etruscans and Rome
The god on the roof · Towards 510–500 BCE · Etruscans and Rome
Glazed brick guards · 522–486 BCE · Achaemenid Persia
Twenty-three delegations · 6th–5th centuries BCE, mainly under Darius and Xerxes · Achaemenid Persia
Sarcophagus of Eshmunazar · first quarter of the 5th century BCE · Phoenicians
The statue was the urn · First half of the 4th century BCE · Iberians
The Raimondi Stele · c. 400–200 BCE according to MNAAHP · Pre-Inca cultures
Torreáguila fountain spout · 101–125 CE · Etruscans and Rome
The date of 292 · 292 CE · Maya worlds
Articulated doll from Tarragona · Late 3rd–4th century CE · Etruscans and Rome
Seven heads · c. 500–700 CE · Bantu-speaking worlds
Seated figure · 13th century, date attributed by the museum · Mande Worlds
Gold rhinoceros · ca. 1220–1290; found in 1933 · Bantu-speaking worlds
Zimbabwe birds · main period of Great Zimbabwe, c. 12th–15th centuries · Bantu-speaking worlds
Kongo crucifix · 16th–17th centuries · Bantu-speaking worlds
Kuba ndop · ca. 1760 · Bantu-speaking worlds

Without a comparable date (not part of the chronological order):

Before Persia · Central core c. seventeenth century BCE; Neo-Elamite additions between the ninth and sixth centuries BCE · Achaemenid Persia
Lararium of Vilauba · Roman period · Etruscans and Rome
The Thracian Horseman · Roman era · diffusion especially in the 2nd–3rd centuries CE · Thracians

Human imagery

Lion-man · ≈40,000 years · Aurignacian · Prehistory
Hohle Fels · ≈40,000 years · Aurignacian · Prehistory
Willendorf · ≈29,500 years · Prehistory
Brno II Articulated Figure · ≈28,000 years cal BP · by funerary association · Prehistory
Dolní Věstonice I · ≈29,000–27,000 years · Prehistory
Lespugue · ≈28,000 years · Prehistory
Kostenki I · ≈23,000–21,000 years · Prehistory
Shigir Idol · C. 10,000 BCE · approximation; debated dating · Prehistory
Nahal Hemar mask · Eighth millennium BCE · context dating, not direct dating of the stone · Prehistory
El Miradero spatula-idols · ≈4000–3800 cal BCE · Prehistory
Warka Mask · End of the 4th millennium BCE · Sumer
Cueva de las Manos · Sequence ≈9300–1300 BP · Prehistory
Uruk Vase · ca. 3300–3000 BCE · Sumer
Worshiper of Tell Asmar · Towards 2900–2600 BCE · Sumer
Standard of Ur · ca. 2600–2400 BCE · Sumer
Statue of Ebih-Il · Towards 2400 BCE · Sumer
Akkadian sovereign head · Akkadian period · 23rd century BCE · Sumer
Bassetki Statue · Akkadian period · 23rd century BCE · Sumer
Before Pre-Inca Cultures · Kotosh-Mito Tradition, c. 2200–1500 BCE; the enclosure is usually situated around 1800 BCE. · Pre-Inca cultures — You are viewing
Queen of the Night · 19th–18th centuries BCE · Sumer
Bull-leaping · c. 1600–1450 BCE · Greek worlds
Wooden faces · c. 1600–1000 BCE, in several phases · Maya worlds
Head 2 · c. 1200–900 BCE · Maya worlds
Ivory in Nimrud · 9th–8th centuries BCE · Phoenicians
Las Limas · c. 1000–600 BCE · Maya worlds
Astarte from El Carambolo · 8th century BCE · Phoenicians
Astarte from El Carambolo · 8th century BCE · Iberians
Lamassu of Khorsabad · Reign of Sargon II · 721–705 BCE · Sumer
The Lanzón · c. 900–500 BCE · Pre-Inca cultures
Offering 4 · c. 800–600 BCE · Maya worlds
Kushite king · c. 721–664 BCE · Nubia, Kerma and Kush
The so-called ‘Priest of Cádiz’ · 7th century BCE · Phoenicians
The so-called ‘Priest of Cádiz’ · 7th century BCE · Iberians
Heads on the wall · c. 800–300 BCE · Pre-Inca cultures
Shabti of Psamtek · 570–526 BCE · Ancient Egypt
Two voices in an urn · 530–520 BCE · Etruscans and Rome
The god on the roof · Towards 510–500 BCE · Etruscans and Rome
Glazed brick guards · 522–486 BCE · Achaemenid Persia
Twenty-three delegations · 6th–5th centuries BCE, mainly under Darius and Xerxes · Achaemenid Persia
Banquet under leopards · Around 480–470 BCE · Etruscans and Rome
The statue was the urn · First half of the 4th century BCE · Iberians
A battle on a comb · Early 4th century BCE · Scythians and Saka
The Kul-Oba vase · 4th century BCE · Greek worlds
The Solokha gold comb · 4th century BCE · Greek worlds
Faces of the Steppe · Second half of the 4th century BCE · Scythians and Saka
Lady of Ibiza · 4th–3rd centuries BCE · Phoenicians
Punic head pendant · Mid 4th–3rd centuries BCE · Phoenicians
Lady of Ibiza · 4th–3rd centuries BCE · Iberians
The Raimondi Stele · c. 400–200 BCE according to MNAAHP · Pre-Inca cultures
Chão de Lamas pectoral · 3rd–2nd centuries BCE · concealed in the early 1st century BCE · Iberians
Vas dels Guerrers · 3rd–early 2nd century BCE · Iberians
Warriors' Vase · 3rd–2nd centuries BCE · Iberians
The dismantled cauldron · 2nd–1st centuries BCE · Celtic worlds
The walls of San Bartolo · c. 100 BCE · Maya worlds
Gladiators Cup of Chavagnes · 25–75 CE · Etruscans and Rome
Thracian Gladiator from Cádiz · 67–100 CE · Etruscans and Rome
Torreáguila fountain spout · 101–125 CE · Etruscans and Rome
Articulated doll from Tarragona · Late 3rd–4th century CE · Etruscans and Rome
Seven heads · c. 500–700 CE · Bantu-speaking worlds
Seated figure · 13th century, date attributed by the museum · Mande Worlds
Kongo crucifix · 16th–17th centuries · Bantu-speaking worlds
Kuba ndop · ca. 1760 · Bantu-speaking worlds

Without a comparable date (not part of the chronological order):

Before Persia · Central core c. seventeenth century BCE; Neo-Elamite additions between the ninth and sixth centuries BCE · Achaemenid Persia
Bhimbetka · Mesolithic–historical and medieval period · Prehistory
Eland Cave · Regional tradition of ≈4,000 years · up to historical period · Prehistory
Four offerers · Iberian period · individual dating according to catalogue · Iberians
Game Pass Shelter · Regional rock art chronology · panel not dated in isolation · San histories
Lararium of Vilauba · Roman period · Etruscans and Rome
Leang Karampuang · Minimum 51,200 years · dating published in 2024 · Prehistory
Quinkan Country · Regional art up to ≈27,000 BP · modern continuity · Prehistory
Sierra de San Francisco · Broad tradition with direct dates ≈5290–295 BP · Prehistory
Tassili n’Ajjer · Corpus ≈6000 BCE–first centuries CE · Prehistory
The Thracian Horseman · Roman era · diffusion especially in the 2nd–3rd centuries CE · Thracians

Architecture

Before Pre-Inca Cultures · Kotosh-Mito Tradition, c. 2200–1500 BCE; the enclosure is usually situated around 1800 BCE. · Pre-Inca cultures — You are viewing
Ishtar Gate · 7th–6th centuries BCE · work of Nebuchadnezzar II · Sumer
Heads on the wall · c. 800–300 BCE · Pre-Inca cultures
The god on the roof · Towards 510–500 BCE · Etruscans and Rome
Glazed brick guards · 522–486 BCE · Achaemenid Persia
Twenty-three delegations · 6th–5th centuries BCE, mainly under Darius and Xerxes · Achaemenid Persia
Torreáguila fountain spout · 101–125 CE · Etruscans and Rome
Zimbabwe birds · main period of Great Zimbabwe, c. 12th–15th centuries · Bantu-speaking worlds

Without a comparable date (not part of the chronological order):

A White Wall on the Danube · 6th century BCE · Celtic worlds
Cemetery · ca. 2600–1900 BCE · Indus civilisation
Dia’s strata · 9th century BCE–2nd millennium CE · Mande Worlds
Four gardens and water · 6th century BCE · Achaemenid Persia
Jenne-jeno contexts · ca. 250 BCE–1400 CE · Mande Worlds
Kumbi Saleh · medieval occupation; prominent phases between the 11th and 13th centuries · Mande Worlds
Livestock and mounds · c. 2050–1500 BCE · Nubia, Kerma and Kush
Lothal · ca. 2400–1600 BCE · Indus civilisation
Rice on stilts · Especially 1st–3rd centuries CE · Yayoi Japan
Rome learns in terracotta · End of the sixth century BCE · Etruscans and Rome
The altar cord · Approximate composition and transmission c. 800–500 BCE, with revisions · Vedic and later Indian worlds
The quarry remained visible · Mainly 6th–5th centuries BCE · Gojoseon and early Korea
Tichitt walls · II–I millennia BCE · Mande Worlds

A closer look

About 1 min to read · 1 section. Further reading and sources · free access. Editorial review recorded: September 5, 2026.

Two Reliefs, Two Conservation Histories

The Kotosh hands also tell a modern story of loss and copies. The first relief, discovered in 1960 and traditionally called "the man's hands", was destroyed after being left exposed; a plaster mould preserves its shape. The second, found in 1963 and called "the woman's hands", was detached from its wall and moved to Lima for protection. These names do not prove the sex of their makers or intended recipients. The University Museum of Tokyo documents new replicas made in 2013: comparing originals, moulds and reproductions allows us to know what material the visitor is actually seeing.

Museum · University Museum, University of Tokyo · G6 The Crossed HandsAccess recorded: September 5, 2026.

The region before this culture

c. 3000–1500 BCE · Central Andes of Peru, between coast, highlands and corridors of interregional exchange

c. 3000–1800 BCE · Documented
Caral-Supe Centres
Coastal communities built monumental plazas and platforms before pottery became widespread in the central Andes.
c. 2200–1500 BCE · Debated
Kotosh-Mito Tradition
Small enclosures with central hearths and underground ventilation sustained repeated ceremonies in the highlands.
c. 1500–900 BCE · Debated
Formative Convergences
Regional exchanges and new architectures prepared the religious horizon visible at Chavín de Huántar.

What changes and what we should not assume

The first wing moves from Caral and Kotosh to Chavín; the following wings open parallel chronologies for Nazca and Moche, Tiwanaku and Wari, and finally Chimú.

Kotosh and Caral must not be described as early Chavín, and none of the seven traditions should be presented as an inevitable step towards the Incas.

Crossed Hands of Kotosh

Kotosh-Mito Tradition, c. 2200–1500 BCE; the enclosure is usually situated around 1800 BCE. · Temple of the Crossed Hands, Kotosh, Huánuco, Peru

Two pairs of crossed arms were modelled beneath niches in an enclosure with a central hearth. The gesture appears deliberate and powerful, but its meaning has been lost. Precisely this resistance to a single explanation arouses interest: the architecture gathered bodies, fire and symbols centuries before Chavín's stone iconography.

Kotosh has a long sequence of occupation before and after the Temple of the Crossed Hands.

Do not assign sex, divinity or universal meaning to the hands; interpretations of duality, hierarchy or protection are hypotheses, not deciphered readings.

Modelled clay on wall

Wikimedia Commons · Crossed Hands of Kotosh entry · Pitxiquin · CC BY-SA 4.0

Documented fact 01: Kotosh has a long sequence of occupation before and after the Temple of the Crossed Hands.
Documented fact 02: The enclosures of the Mito tradition are characterised by central hearths and ventilation ducts.
Documented fact 03: The hands are clay reliefs integrated into the architecture, not free-standing sculptures.
Documented fact 04: Caral-Supe demonstrates complex public architecture prior to the Chavín horizon.
Documented fact 05: The exact meaning of the crossed hands gesture remains unknown.

Sources and references

Expand this antecedent and consult its sources

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History and context

Evidence and interpretation

Catalogue facts

Before Pre-Inca Cultures

Dolní Věstonice I

Before Sumer

Twin-chambered vessel from Cova de l’Or

Before Egypt

Before Nubia

Before Gojoseon

Bevel-rimmed bowl

Susa accounting bulla

Jemdet Nasr

Account of malt and barley

Before Yayoi

Vasiliki

Before Ancient China

Longshan

Before the Hittites

Before Pre-Inca Cultures

Queen of the Night

Plimpton 322

Sumerian King List

Love song to Shu-Sin

Si.427 tablet

Phaistos Disc

Sumerian Flood of Nippur

Boğazköy Archive

Linear B

Alaksandu of Wilusa

Treaty with Egypt

Flood Tablet

Babylonian map of the world

Glazed brick guards

Rations for women and children

Urewe vessel

A closer look

Two Reliefs, Two Conservation Histories

The region before this culture

Caral-Supe Centres

Kotosh-Mito Tradition

Formative Convergences

What changes and what we should not assume

Crossed Hands of Kotosh

Sources and references

Did you enjoy this exhibit?