Chakana

thumb|right|Most commonly used variation of an Andean cross used today; this open Andean cross can also be seen at the Tello Obelisk and on Tiwanaku [[Qirus often with an eye inside]] The chakana or Andean cross (also "stepped cross", "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 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, Chancay, 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 a long cultural tradition spanning 4,000 years up to the Inca Empire.

== Andean cross with central eye motif == Ancient Tiwanaku Qirus sometimes bear Andean crosses with central eye motifs. The central eye sometimes is vertically divided. The anthropologist Scott C. Smith interprets the Andean cross motif as a top view of a platform mound (like the Akapana or Pumapunku). According to anthropologist Robin Beck the cross motif in Yaya-Mama stone carving may have been a precursor of the Tiwanaku Andean cross. Beck suggests that the Tiwanaku Andean cross is a representation of a "platform-chamber complex".