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By Bridget Cowan

Before the advent of modern meteorology, 17th century Aztec priests predicted the weather by skinning human sacrifices, then dressing themselves and specially chosen young men in the skins. The prophecy went that if lots of fatty goblets fell from the feet of the victim as the bearers begged in the streets, the year to come would be a rainy one.

For obvious reasons, the Chilean Museum of Pre-Columbian Art on the corner of Compania and Bandera, in downtown Santiago, doesn't recreate this particular ritual, but it does have a fertility god statue modeling a monkey skin. To the Aztecs' ancestors in Teotituacan and Monte Alban, historians believe, the stone figure dating from between 500-1200 b.c. symbolized the springtime rebirth of vegetation.

The art museum makes no pretensions about being a source of information about daily routine in pre-Columbian times, the days before the arrival of Christopher Columbus in Cuba in 1492. Rather, the vast majority of the exhibits are either ceremonial or funereal, simply because most of the surviving artifacts from the period are decorative pots, jewellery and statues.

One exquisite example of a very practical object being given a deeper significance by its decoration is a bottle from the Moche culture, painted with an intricate geometrical pattern and featuring two small monkeys clinging onto the handles. Hidden amongst the black line patterns are charging, faceless warriors wielding knives.

Such colors, shapes and line drawings were more than mere creative urges; in the absence of a written language, they reaffirmed on a daily basis the basic ideology of the culture. This affirmation, the museum points out, is "a necessity for the cultural subsistence of every society."

There are six geometric patterns which were commonly used, and can be seen around the permanent exhibit, constantly repeated on bowls, cups and rugs from all across the southern continent, but each time with subtle differences.

This artistic movement reflects the common roots and similar motivations uniting the distinct groups which emerged after the first South American pioneers walked across the land strip from Asia about 11,000 years ago. The end of the last Ice Age and the elevation of the seas left the new inhabitants isolated, both culturally and geographically. The natural habitat changed, forests extended and the dietary habits of people diversified.

The nomadic Arcaician culture sustained itself over the next 6,000-7,000 years by hunting giant armadillo, fishing and gathering fruits and shellfish, as it spread across the three regions of the continent: Mesoamerica, Amazoniza and Los Andes. Although huge distances separated the descendents of the original nomads, they all used vegetable fibers, bone, shell and copper for the same practical purposes of eating and drinking. Many of the bowls and cups they used are on display in the museum.

Body piercing and painting seem to have been all the rage among later cultures which settled in permanent communities. The figure of a pan-pipe playing musician attached to a drinking mug - which was found in Ecuador and is believed to date from 500-800 a.c. - wears a head-dress, nose ring and has pierced nipples. Other ornaments and statues from the Jama Coaque show a great interest in personal appearance, with intentional deformation of the head, elaborate clothing, and body and facial painting. Attention to detail, especially in jewelery, is stunning. Two golden lizards, chained together, strain at their harnesses and stare furiously out with beady red eyes, forming a Diquis broach which dates from between 800-1550 b.c.

Another eye, startling blue this time, fixes its gaze from a "supernatural" wooden body perched on top of a long wooden palette found near San Pedro de Atacama. Dating from 300-900 b.c., it was used by local residents, the Tiahuanaco, to sniff hallucinogenic powder extracted from the cebil or vilca plant.

According to the museum the custom continues in some parts of America today, and is not the only similarity which can be seen between today's lifestyle and previous cultures. The Quipu, for example, a series of knots in colored threads, tied along a main strand of wool, was the Inca computer. It enabled the Quipucamayacs, the technical wiz kids who understood the system, to monitor the empire's economy, which at its summit stretched from Colombia to the middle of Chile.

Some of the most bizarrely beautiful pottery is from the Moche, who lived in the northern Andean region. With developed agricultural and fishing industries, and complex administration and ceremonial activities, their art shows characteristics of a warring nation which dominated neighboring valleys. A snake with a rabbit-like creature hanging from its mouth curls its long body around to form the handle of a jug, while a cat-shaped mug literally purrs with arrogant content.

From the Mapocho culture, which along with the Spanish make up the largest ethnic influence in Chile, there are few exhibits, apart from a beautiful black jug. The wet weather in the Andean foothills and the Lake and Central regions of Chile, where the Mapocho originated after 500 b.c., is not conducive to the preservation of art. Consequently, little remains of their early culture.

The library and the permanent textile, ceramic and metals exhibition have free admission from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sunday. There is also a cafe in the museum's courtyard which makes an ideal spot to write postcards purchased from the gift shop.

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