File number: brbk0052

© South American Pictures/ Tony Morrison

Brazil: Bahia state. A modern carranca or figurehead in a sculptor's workshop in Juazeiro on the southern bank of the São Francisco river - the longest river flowing totally within Brazil. A century ago the river was plied by shallow draughted straw- thatched boats. Their prows were decorated with carved figureheads or carrancas. Their origin is obscure and the designs tend toward a frequently grotesque figure with mixture of human and animal features. Among the old beliefs of the river folk was the idea of a minhocão or giant river serpent for which the carrancas offered protection