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BY SHIRLEY MOSKOW

The past is always present in Peru, where a constant stream of traffic circulates around an ancient pyramid in downtown Lima. Nowhere is the merging of past and present more evident than in the design of contemporary jewelry. Jewelers not only preserve, but also celebrate the Incan heritage.

For about 100 years, until 1532, the Incas of Peru governed 13 million subjects in an empire they called Tawantinsuyu. It rivaled the Roman Empire for size and influence. They built a network of roads that connected the capital, Cuzco -- which means "navel of the world" -- to communities in Colombia, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, and Ecuador. They created sophisticated irrigation systems, piping water to the desert and through mountains, which were terraced for planting. They stored and distributed the harvest so that no one went hungry in the largest welfare state the world has ever known. They also supported the arts, especially music and dance.

Jewelry, above: A lapis lazuli pendant outlined in silver wire that makes a spiral around a point of equilibrium, signifying harmony. Photo by Shirley Moskow. Jewelry, top: "Pachamama" silver pendant in a spiral design inlaid with various gemstones and colored shells. Photo courtesy Wonders' Art.

What the Incas lacked was a written language. In its place, they devised innovative methods and images for recording information. And, just as a family passes along its stories from one generation to the next with heirloom jewelry, the Andean people -- the Incas were the aristocracy -- passed on their history and mythology through an oral tradition in Chechua, the ancient Indian language that is still heard in the streets. Today, hand-crafted gold and silver jewelry -- often accented with amber, onyx, lapis lazuli, tiger's eye, opal, and turquoise, as well as glass beads, coral, bamboo, and colored seashells - preserves this heritage.

Peru is among the world's top producers of quality silver and gold. In Peruvian mythology, silver represents the tears of the moon and gold represents the sun god. The Incan chief, son of the sun, ruled from Cuzco, the Golden Capital. Cuzco's old alleys still bear pockmarks where the Spanish conquistadors in 1532 ripped sheets of gold from stone walls. The palace walls also were covered in gold. The Incan chief sat on a solid gold throne. He ate off gold plates and drank from gold vessels, which were discarded after a single use. He wore gold garments and carried a gold rod topped by a gold star. He strolled in a garden of gold statuary and gold flowers studded with colored gemstones. No one else was permitted to wear the precious metal.

INSPIRED BY HISTORY
Peruvian artists discover inspiration in unlikely places. The tumi, a ceremonial knife with a semicircular blade, was once used in Incan sacrificial rites. Today, it is among the most popular designs in jewelry worn by men and women, rendered in a variety of sizes. The handle is often a jeweled Incan figure standing on the flat back of the blade.

Many variations of another contemporary necklace design call to mind the Andean method of accounting. The Andean people conducted trade, kept track of inventories, and tabulated the census on knotted strings called quipus. Their accountants used a decimal system and color-coded knots to register specific numbers on a kind of textile abacus that served as a tool for bookkeeping. Modern necklaces made with small colored stones on slim silver or gold drops evoke the memory of quipus.

Incan chiefs maintained close control and communication with their subjects through chaskis, relay runners who carried the Inca's word, known as the people's wisdom, to the farthest reaches of the empire. Contemporary jewelers produce small icons of chaskis. The couriers -- or messengers of light -- are distinguished by the torch they carry and the bag slung over their shoulder, presumably filled with messages from the capital. Modern jewelry designers create chaskis, warriors, Indian princesses, and shamans, among other Incan icons, which they dress in intricately detailed costumes, ornamented with a wide variety of gemstones.

Jewelry, above: "Tumi" turquoise bracelet in silver, photo courtesy Wonders' Art. A choker and earrings made with alpaca wire, black bugle beads, and black onyx. Jewelry from Wright's Peruvian Imports; photos by Tony Fredricks.

In addition to human forms, jewelers fashion a vast menagerie of animals and birds, some mythical, some real. The most beloved is the llama, the only domesticated animal native to the Americas. It is primarily a beast of burden. It also provides food, skin for drums, bones for art, and wool for clothes. Andean people are so devoted to llamas that a long neck like that of the llama is universally recognized as beauty in a woman.

The puma was the Incas' most sacred animal and appears frequently on jeweled collars. Peruvians see the Sacred Valley, the region in which Cuzco is located, as being in the shape of a puma. Sacsayhuaman, the largest Incan fort, is the big cat's head; the Tullumayo River is the spine; and Cuzco is the body. In Incan cosmology, the puma represents this life on earth. The snake represents the underworld. The condor represents the heavens and is responsible for escorting the dead person's soul to the next world.

Andean people believe that birds are representatives of the spiritual world. The owl embodies intuition. An antique jade necklace of carved owl heads is displayed in the small museum Victor Estrada Cervantes maintains at his Cuzco workshop. About a dozen family members make jewelry there, often incorporating native bird forms with colored stones for plumage. The hummingbird, which represents joy, is a favorite.

Peruvian jewelers find inspiration in Incan iconography, too. Much of the old symbolism is abstract, making it attractive to contemporary consumers. The spiral is the symbol of evolution. It actually predates the Incan Empire by about 1,000 years and is among the huge images known as the mysterious Nasca lines, which were discovered early in the 20th century in the south coast desert. The spiral also appears in ancient weavings, as well as contemporary rings, earrings, and brooches. On one pendant, the spiral is affixed to the center of a one-and-a-half inch lapis lazuli teardrop. It is attached with a silver bead to the silver necklace, which alternates lapis chips and silver beads.

An extremely popular jewelry piece is an Incan cross called a chakana. Each arm of this square cross represents one of the primitive basic elements: fire, water, earth, and air. Inspired by the constellation of the Southern Cross, the chakana is believed to orient all creation in the Southern Hemisphere. Although the chakana is usually carved from a single stone, two or more colored stones may be combined to form a cross within a piece of jewelry; instead of a contrasting stone, the point of equilibrium in the center of the cross can be a small, open circle. When the cross is worn as a necklace, a silk cord is often drawn through the opening. The crosses in modern jewelry come in many sizes, and jewelers often combine symbols, like adding a spiral to the center of a cross.

The Andean people use many geometric shapes: The circle is significant as the symbol of infinity, while the triangle symbolizes the spiritual and material universe. Jewelers may feature one triangle inside another or a small triangle over a large one, as if to show the relationship of the two aspects of the universe. A single point symbolizes equilibrium in the cosmos and is represented by a small colored stone in the center of a design.

Contemporary jewelry borrows from many sources and incorporates many elements. One necklace features a solid silver spiral to represent evolution, flanked by Art Deco-style silver wings for the spiritual world. A small garnet in the center of the spiral represents the point of equilibrium. On another necklace, the coral point of equilibrium presents a striking contrast on a purple amethyst cross. On each side of the amethyst, six gold drops with randomly-placed colored stones call to mind the knots on quipus.

Peruvian jewelers are not alone in mining their heritage for inspiration. During a museum visit in Peru, Arline Fisch saw a man's pre-Columbian hand and arm sheath forged of embossed gold. Later, it inspired Fisch, an internationally-renowned jeweler and the American pioneer in the 1960s body sculpture movement, to create "Bracelet and Glove," a knitted coated-copper and silver piece a woman might wear.

Some artists create fine reproductions of antiques; others prefer to reinvent classic themes. Whichever path jewelers choose, the Incan Empire provides a rich lode for inspiration.

READ MORE: Explore Incan history and culture and how it affects Peruvian people today