Lama fetus

The first thing I read about that gripped me about Bolivia was the use of dead lama baby’s in rituals. Luckily the first hostel I stayed in la Paz was right across form Marie stalls selling them so could see them first hand.

Getting to Chochabamba I was lost for what to paint there was so much going on and there was so much to be inspired by, but when I went to get a frame down of the cupboard on of the dead lama baby’s fell on my head so it had to be.

I have read and heard a lot about the rituals that are preformed using the lama fetuses. They are generally used in offerings which are placed under new buildings, for prosperity. I was told that the tradition originated because by aborting lama fetuses the. Original inhabitants of Bolivia prevented the overgrazing of their crops.

Since making the painting I I have been told the lama fetus I have is most likely not from a lama but from another animal as there are not sufficient lamas in Bolivia. Also I have learned that they are mostly used by the poorer families for smaller homes, and that for big houses a live lama sacrifice is required. There are even rumors from some Bolivian builders that under bigger buildings like apparat net complexes human sacrifices have been used.