Carranca

[2] They were once commonly found on the lower Rio São Francisco in Brazil's Northeast Region (Nordeste).

They were used to identify traders operating on the São Francisco and, as with ancient figureheads, serve the superstitious as guardians on the river.

[3] Today most authentic carrancas and early folk art revivals are only found in museums[4] with some being subject of a Rio exhibition in 2002.

[4] Modern, more stylized versions are sometimes seen as decorations in restaurants or homes and commonly seen in tourist shops of the states of Bahia, Pernambuco, Sergipe and Alagoas where the historic use was found on the lower Rio São Francisco.

While most of the modern tourist versions are produced quickly in quantity using one of several patterns a few are made by more artistic wood workers and show unique design or interpretations of "functional" carrancas from history.