There is little ground to doubt that this monument is cosmical in meaning (it may also be totemic, for at least the ruling Andeans became "Children of the Sun"), and that the central figure is a heaven-god or a sun-god. The most curious of its emblems, taking into account the nature of the region, is the fish; for while there are fish in Lake Titicaca, the natives (at least today) are little given to taking them. It is possible, as suggested by the crescent on the breast of the god, that the fish is here a symbol of the moon, which may have been mistress of the waves; and this would lead us, analogically, to the capital of the Grand Chimu and the temple of Si An, where were the great deities, the Moon above and the Sea below. Certainly, if an animal form were sought to symbolize the crescent of the skies, none could be found more perfect than that of the fish; or, by extension, the bark by which man conquers the piscine realm might be conceived and imaged as symbol of the lunar ship.
Such an hypothesis implies a relation of Tiahuanaco to the coastal regions as well as to the mountain valleys; and this relationship, in a period long past, is demonstrated, representations of the deity of Tiahuanaco being found, drawn in Tiahuanaco style, on the Yunca vases. But what of its extension in the highlands? The Chavin stone (see Plate XXXI) from the region of the headwaters of Rio Marañon far to the north of Cuzco is, as monumental evidence of the ancient cult, second in importance only to the Tiahuanaco arch. The figure on this monument is in Nasca rather than in Tiahuanaco style, having as its head-dress an elaborate structure which, when viewed reversed, is found to be formed of that series of masks, each depending from the lolling tongue of its predecessor, which is so common on Nasca vases; while snakes' heads replace the condor-puma-fish adornments of the southern monument, and it is interesting to note that the whole structure terminates in a caduceus-like twist of serpents. The main figure, however, with its elaborate wands, ending exactly in the form of Jove's bolt, certainly follows the style of the central figure of Tiahuanaco, so that we are justified in assuming that it represents a similar conception--a celestial deity, from which proceed the serpentine rays, sunlight or lightning. To the far south, in the Calchaqui-Diaguité region, potsherds have been discovered implying the same central conception--the deity with mask and bolt, the dragon with head at each extremity, and a series of dragons' heads united by protruding tongues (a design whose far extension leads into the country of the unconquered Araucanians in the Chilean Andes).[138] More remarkable are the ceremonial and votive objects discovered in this region, among them certain plaques which include a masterpiece (Plate XXXVI) bearing many traits that identify it with the monumental images: the rayed head, the tears beneath the eyes, the crescent-shaped breast-ornament, and, on either side of the central image, crested dragons which appear to take the place of the wands in the type figures.