Pumas y peces: la iconografía de Cerro Sechín y la construcción del pensamiento cósmico andino.

Cerro Sechin, in the Valley of Casma, has been subject of a numer of archaeological interpretations. Its mural paintings and carved lithic slabs had been interpreted as scenes of war, bloody sacrifices and even as a medicine school in ancient Peru. In this paper, we are offering an archaeostronomical, mithological and ethnographical undertsnading of one of the iconographical representations least known of the site, that of a polichrome fish decorating one of the earlier architectural phases of the site. This interpretation suggests a gradual transition to a cult centered more in the nature of the communion between the natural and supernatural worlds more tan in the deities or processes responsable of said communion. These instead refer to an iniciatic voyage through which man transforms itself to re-establish a cosmic and social order to maintain water flowing between worlds, to sustain life during the Early Horizon in the Valley of Casma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]