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The chakana (Andean cross, "stepped cross" or "step motif" or "stepped motif") is a stepped cross motif used by the Inca and pre-incan Andean societies. The most commonly used variation of this symbol used today is made up of an equal-armed cross indicating the cardinal points of the compass and a superimposed square. Chakana means 'bridge', and means 'to cross over' in Quechua. The Andean cross motif appears in pre-contact artifacts such as textiles and ceramics from such cultures as the Chavín, Wari, Ica, and Tiwanaku, but with no particular emphasis and no key or guide to a means of interpretation. The anthropologist Alan Kolata calls the Andean cross "one of the most ubiquitous, if least understood elements in Tiwanaku iconography". The Andean cross symbol has long cultural tradition spanning 4,000 years up to the Inca empire.
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