Textile Support for the Feline-Trophy Head Association: What Do You think?

As we were looking back at some of the textile from the site, in light of the feline trophy head and the human trophy heads we found, I started thinking about the beautiful belts or head wrappings from Uraca. We found lots of these narrow textiles, made from camelid hair, many with alternating stripes and dots. The three color scheme is common in the zone during this time, and we've seen variations of lines, "S" curves, and circles in textiles from neighboring valleys. We're looking for more comparative data, but it struck me that this pattern is almost identical to the patterns of Andean pampas cat fur (look up some pictures!). These belts or head wrappings may have been worn by elites at Uraca, as a way of associating their family with the power and prestige of the feline emblem. This is up for interpretation, though, what do you think?

Photo by Samantha Seyler.