Sharks have the ability to continuously regenerate their teeth, and the sculptor of this vessel has accurately rendered the rows of new teeth pushing forward to replace older ones. In contrast with other, more naturalistic representations of sharks by Tumaco-La Tolita artists, this example is adorned with a large, semicircular headdress. The meaning of this is unknown to us.
Living in a vast territory spanning the Pacific coastline from La Tolita on the Santiago River in Ecuador to Buenaventura in Colombia, people of what we now call the Tumaco-La Tolita culture were intimately familiar with the marine animals of the region. Sharks, of which a number of species inhabit this particular stretch of ocean, clearly held a position of significance not only in the daily lives of local people but also in their imaginations and mythology.
Julia Burtenshaw
2024