Miniature camelid effigy: A 600-year-old sculpture of a llama that may have been sacrificed in an Inca ritual

This silver llama figurine reveals the animal's importance in the Inca Empire. (Image credit: Gift and Bequest of Alice K. Bache, 1974, 1977; Metropolitan Museum of Art (Public Domain))

QUICK FACTS

Name: Miniature camelid effigy

What it is: A silver-alloy llama figurine

Where it is from: South America

When it was made: 1400 to 1535

This figurine of a small male camelid was made by the Inca as a "huaca" — a sacred being, site or object revered by their society. The quadruped was probably intended to be a llama (Lama glama), but it may represent the other camelid species domesticated by Andean people: the alpaca (Lama pacos or Vicugna pacos).