The art of Tiwanaku and later of Huari, probably under Tiwanaku influence, incorporates features which go back at least a thousand years to Chavin times or before.
A prominent motif was the god often identified as the prototype of Viracocha (the chief deity of the later Inca), the creator god, shown holding a staff in each hand. Other popular motifs included humans, sometimes with wings, pumas and other animals.
Both Huari and Tiwanaku made fine pottery, painted with designs in various colours on red; the vessels included a type of drinking beaker which was also commonly made in wood.
Tiwanaku is also famous for its stone sculptures which included not only relief carvings on the monolithic gateways but also standing figures, heads on tenons (projections for fastening) inserted into walls to enliven them, and other human and animal figures.
