In many societies that do not have draft animals or wheeled vehicles, important individuals are carried in litters. In ancient Peru, the backrests of such litters, made of wood, were often embellished with carvings, colorful feather work, and precious metal appliqués. Few examples survive. Carved from a single slab of wood, this backrest has eighteen small bird figures, probably macaws, around the border. They were once covered with tiny feathers of the blue and yellow macaw, a tropical bird whose natural habitat is the eastern slopes of the Andes. In the center is a cutout sheet-silver panel showing a tall human figure, probably a ruler, under an awning fringed with strings of small spondylus beads. He is flanked by attendants and anthropomorphized birds. At the bottom are cord lashings that held this upright piece to the crossbeams that formed the supports of the base of the litter. It is possible that the block of wood for this backrest was brought to the North Coast from the eastern slopes of the Andes, since trees large enough to produce planks of this size are rare in Peru's desert coast.