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Moche Art (Art History)

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  1. Introduction
  2. The Moche of the North Coast of Peru (c. 100–800 CE) are well known for having produced artworks of impressive technical virtuosity and complex figural imagery. Moche cultural remains are found throughout their coastal homelands, with works in the form of monumental pyramids and temple complexes extensively decorated with polychrome murals, elaborately modeled and painted ceramic vessels, elite tombs, sophisticated textiles, and metalwork. Yet despite abundant art and architecture, the Moche are essentially an “archaeological culture,” meaning that all interpretations depend heavily on archaeological findings to contextually anchor the group within the larger trajectory of Andean culture history. The only direct evidence of Moche is in the form of biological remains, material artifacts, and a rich corpus of visual imagery. This results in a bibliographic source list heavily infused with archaeological method and visual analysis. Interpretations typically depend on an interdisciplinary evidence derived from archaeological, ethnographic, ethnohistoric, linguistic, and art historical methods, and the interpretive literature for Moche often falls along disciplinary lines; most conclusions represent a synthesis of approaches. Broadly speaking, scholars of Moche art tend to focus on articulation of contextual parameters, such as architectural, social, and environmental factors, as well as the role of human agency in the creation of meaning and message, versus hermeneutic explorations of internal structures and meanings, graphic and formal analyses, semiotic relationships, symbolism, and iconology. No bibliography is definitive and multiple points of entry are possible for the interested reader. Many articles derive from larger collections of essays in edited volumes; the reader is encouraged to investigate those expanded works for additional essays on related material.
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  4. General Overviews
  5. Moche was never a unified empire, despite evidence for long standing political alliances; thus, it is incorrect to speak of Moche as if it were a monolithic culture. Instead, it appears the Moche were a collection of interdependent autonomous or semiautonomous polities, with numerous religious and urban centers located throughout North Coast valleys. Moche elites apparently shared religion and strategies of governance, and the people employed common subsistence methods for agriculture, fishing, and production of household goods. Work by Rafael Larco Hoyle (Larco Hoyle 2001, originally published 1938–1939) stands as the earliest comprehensive attempt at an overall description of Moche as discrete cultural entity. Colonial sources support the idea of venerable lineage clans in the coastal valleys, with intermarriage among elites, competition for resources, occasional hostility or warfare, and varying degrees of cooperation for maintenance of irrigation systems. Several sources elaborate on these cultural systems in synthetic manner; Castillo, et al. 2008, for example, presents overviews of political organization based on art and archaeology. Moche centers of political dominance seem to have shifted over time; Shimada 1994 and Bawden 1996 discuss case studies for later Moche sites, such as Pampa Grande and Galindo. Art and visual culture have played an unusually important role in interpretations of Moche culture, politics, and ideology; formal analyses and thematic overviews by Benson 1972, Donnan 1978, and Hocquenghem 1987 opened the field for later works employing interdisciplinary approaches such as semasiography and narrative structure (Jackson 2008; Quilter 2011).
  6.  
  7. Bawden, Garth. The Moche. Cambridge, MA: Blackwell, 1996.
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  10.  
  11. Synthesizing Moche studies ten years after the discovery of royal tombs at Sipan and asserting that the fundamental purpose of Moche artwork was to affirm and reinforce Moche elites’ right to rule, the author’s work on the developmental sequence of Moche culture is especially tuned to its final phases and the importance of the Moche Valley site of Galindo.
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  14.  
  15. Benson, Elizabeth. The Mochica: A Culture of Peru. New York: Praeger, 1972.
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  18.  
  19. Benson presents a detailed analysis of Moche ceramic art with emphasis on identifying a principal deity, Ai Ap’aec, and articulating a particular cohort of recurrent death imagery.
  20.  
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  22.  
  23. Benson, Elizabeth. The Worlds of the Moche. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2012.
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  26.  
  27. Benson’s reprisal of her earlier work but with benefit of four decades of additional data and discovery. She includes excellent photos of significant art and architecture with expanded explanation of familiar Moche artistic themes.
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  29. Find this resource:
  30.  
  31. Castillo B., Luis Jaime, and Santiago Uceda C. “The Mochicas.” In Handbook of South American Archaeology. Edited by Helaine Silverman and William Isbell, 707–730. New York: Springer, 2008.
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  34.  
  35. The authors lay heavy challenge to the long-standing notion that Moche culture arose from a singular antecedent. Citing a range of evidence from coastal sites north and south, they argue that the Moche phenomenon had multiple origins and that Moche cultural forms were impacted by and, in some cases, overlay distinctive local traditions.
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  38.  
  39. Donnan, Christopher B. Moche Art of Peru. Museum of Cultural History. Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1978.
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  42.  
  43. The book that influenced a generation of Moche scholarship, this well-organized, easy-to-read publication clearly articulates Donnan’s “Thematic Approach” to understanding Moche art. What later became the most famous of Moche images, the Presentation Theme, is described in detail here.
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  46.  
  47. Hocquenghem, Anne Marie. Iconografica Mochica. Lima: Pontifica Universidad Catolica del Peru, Fondo Editorial, 1987.
  48.  
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  50.  
  51. This pioneering work in Spanish correlates Moche’s recurrent themes, which the author sees as essentially religious, with the ritual calendrical cycle, as determined from colonial sources. It provides an excellent source for line drawings, many of which follow after Kutscher 1950 (cited under Early Studies of Moche Art).
  52.  
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  54.  
  55. Jackson, Margaret A. Moche Art and Visual Culture. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2008.
  56.  
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  58.  
  59. This study contextualizes the Moche ceramic workshop at Cerro Mayal (Chicama Valley) in an effort to articulate the internal workings of Moche iconography and ceramic technology. Building on advances in communication and picture theory, the author applies semiotic and art historical studies of semasiography to Moche ceramic arts.
  60.  
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  62.  
  63. Larco Hoyle, Rafael. Los Mochicas. Lima: Museo Larco, 2001.
  64.  
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  66.  
  67. Enormously influential, these two volumes represent the first detailed attempt at a comprehensive definition of Moche North Coast society as a distinct cultural entity not directly related to highland Inca. Larco addresses agriculture, political organization, and the coastal environment in relation to artistic representations. Originally published as two volumes in 1938–1939, the recent reprint features expanded use of color images.
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  70.  
  71. Quilter, Jeffrey. The Moche of Ancient Peru: Media and Messages. Boston: Peabody Museum, Harvard, 2011.
  72.  
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  74.  
  75. Well illustrated with mostly images of artworks in the Peabody Museum, this general introduction provides ready access to the current state of Moche studies, addressing the relationship between archaeology and interpretations of imagery.
  76.  
  77. Find this resource:
  78.  
  79. Shimada, Izumi. Pampa Grande and the Mochica Culture. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1994.
  80.  
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  82.  
  83. Pampa Grande is considered to have been the last great urbanization associated with Moche culture, complete with large platform structures and craft workshops. Located in the northern Moche area, in the Lambayeque Valley (c. 600–750 CE), Shimada articulates the city’s main features and hypothesizes some of the reasons that the northern and southern Moche areas took divergent cultural trajectories during later Moche history.
  84.  
  85. Find this resource:
  86.  
  87. Edited Volumes
  88. Just as Moche territory encompassed multiple disparate valleys, across a span of many centuries, scholarship associated with Moche is equally fragmented. Early collections of essays included Moche visual culture within larger arena of Andean Art. The edited volumes by Rowe and Menzel 1967, Cordy-Collins and Stern 1977, Cordy-Collins 1982, reflect the basic interdisciplinary model for pre-Columbian studies, where art history, archaeology, and ethnohistory are seen as a fundamental analytical triumvirate. A dramatic increase in North Coast research projects, triggered by the discovery of spectacular royal tombs at Sipan in 1988, resulted in a fast-moving evolution of thought about Moche. As new findings became available, various edited volumes sought to make those advances known. In associations with a rare exhibition of Museo Larco’s extensive collection of Moche ceramics, Berrin 1997 is a full color catalogue with collected essays on specific iconographic themes. A landmark collection of essays, Pillsbury 2001, brought together results from excavations in multiple valleys. Uceda and Mujica 1994 and Uceda and Mujica 2003 are edited volumes focusing heavily on results of intensive excavations at major Moche sites. Bourget and Jones 2008 followed with a similar collective approach. These important edited volumes reflect a multiplicity of voices, approaches and academic disciplines.
  89.  
  90. Berrin, Kathleen, ed. The Spirit of Ancient Peru. New York: Thames and Hudson, 1997.
  91.  
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  93.  
  94. Cataloguing an extensive and rare exhibition of Moche ceramics from the Museo Larco of Lima, this publication includes an excellent collection of scholarly essays on Moche art.
  95.  
  96. Find this resource:
  97.  
  98. Bourget, Steve, and Kimberly Jones, eds. The Art and Archaeology of the Moche. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2008.
  99.  
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  101.  
  102. Proceedings from an interdisciplinary conference at University of Texas, the collection brings together art historical and archaeological approaches, with essays by Benson, Hocquenghem, McClelland, Cordy-Collins, Donnan, Quilter, and others.
  103.  
  104. Find this resource:
  105.  
  106. Cordy-Collins, Alana, ed. Pre-Columbian Art History: Selected Readings. 2d ed. Palo Alto, CA: Peek, 1982.
  107.  
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  109.  
  110. Although this volume carries the same title as the Cordy-Collins and Stern 1977, its essays are entirely different. Like its predecessor, it covers a diverse range of subject territories, including Central America and Ecuador, as well as material specifically focused on Moche.
  111.  
  112. Find this resource:
  113.  
  114. Cordy-Collins, Alana, and Jean Stern, eds. Pre-Columbian Art History: Selected Readings. 1st ed. Palo Alto, CA: Peek, 1977.
  115.  
  116. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  117.  
  118. This collection seeks to deal with form and meaning as subject matter using art historical methods and theories. Path-breaking in its time, it includes several essays that should be considered to be foundational for both Andean and Mesoamerican art historians.
  119.  
  120. Find this resource:
  121.  
  122. Pillsbury, Joanne, ed. Moche Art and Archaeology in Ancient Peru. Washington, DC: National Gallery of Art, 2001.
  123.  
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  125.  
  126. An important collection of essays from an interdisciplinary symposium in Washington, DC, the volume focuses on the relationships between visual arts and political representation, with essays by Quilter, Uceda, Chapdelaine, Bourget, Donnan, Jones, Alva, and others.
  127.  
  128. Find this resource:
  129.  
  130. Rowe, John, and Dorothy Menzel. Peruvian Archaeology: Selected Readings. Palo Alto, CA: Peek, 1967.
  131.  
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  133.  
  134. Among the earliest collected readings for pre-Columbian studies, although somewhat dated in areas, this should be considered foundational reading. Contains highly influential essays, such as John Rowe, on relative chronology; Junius Bird, on Huaca Prieta; and Richard Schaedel, on the famous murals at Pañamarca.
  135.  
  136. Find this resource:
  137.  
  138. Uceda, Santiago, and Elias Mujica, eds. Moche: Propuestas y Perspectivas. Lima: Universidad Nacional de La Libertad, 1994.
  139.  
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  141.  
  142. Following a decade of large-scale excavations at major sites like Huaca de La Luna, Huaca Cao Viejo, Sipan, and San Jose de Moro, new information was presented in conference volumes such as this one, with essays by Bawden, Bourget, Castillo, Donnan, Morales, Kaulike, Briceño, Mujica, Tham, Narváez, Montoya, Verano, and others.
  143.  
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  145.  
  146. Uceda, Santiago, and Elias Mujica, eds. Moche: Hacia el Final del Milenio. 2 vols. Lima: Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, 2003.
  147.  
  148. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  149.  
  150. This ambitious, two-volume publication, comprehensively addresses multiple aspects of Moche studies, with collections of essays on architecture, funerary practice, cultural sequence, iconography and ideology, biology and zoology, and urbanization.
  151.  
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  153.  
  154. Iconography
  155. The Moche developed an elaborate, systematized pictorial code, whose symbols had well-understood meanings that were used to communicate particular narratives, sets of ideas, and ideological constructs (Jackson 2008, cited under General Overviews). Among the distinctive aspects of Moche art are the recurrence and continuity of specific pictorial images and motifs throughout the culture’s long history, despite diverse media and geographic locations. Interpretations of Moche imagery have tended to focus on what is perceived as pictorial veracity, with scholars at first focusing on the most literal readings of the art, approaching it as if it presented snapshots of Moche life. Ultimately, Moche’s many pictorial inconsistencies invited more nuanced consideration.
  156.  
  157. Early Studies of Moche Art
  158. In the colonial period, very little was known about the deep culture history of Andean people. The Incas shared oral histories about themselves, and several contemporaneous regional histories of non-Inca communities were chronicled, however, people or polities that occurred more than a few centuries before the colonial period were in many cases forgotten or left to the realm of myth. Originally labeled “Early Chimu” by researchers, Moche was thought to have been the direct predecessor of colonial, North Coast Chimu, although it was, even then, seen as stylistically and iconographically distinct (Kutscher 1950; Kutscher 1983; Lehmann 1924). Large collections of well-preserved ceramics allowed for basic descriptions (Larco Hoyle 2001, cited under General Overviews; Tello 1938; Wasserman-San Blas 1938). Before the advent of detailed archaeological data and carbon-14 testing, these studies were used to create relative chronologies and typologies. Field studies such as that by Strong and Evans 1952 represent useful applications of ceramic seriation as basis for cultural attribution based on “diagnostic” features of large cohorts of ceramics.
  159.  
  160. Kutscher, Gerdt. Chimu, eine altindianische Hochhkultur. Berlin: Verlag Gebr. Mann, 1950.
  161.  
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  163.  
  164. Kutscher sees North Coast cultures as essentially equivalent to ancient American “high cultures” like Aztec and Inca, and, while much of his commentary related to empire is dated, he admirably identifies a cultural matrix located in the vicinity of Chicama, Moche, and Viru valleys. His book presents photos and illustrations of dozens of Moche pieces.
  165.  
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  167.  
  168. Kutscher, Gerdt. Nord-peruanische Gefafsmalereien de Moche-Stils. Munich: Verlag C. H. Beck, 1983.
  169.  
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  171.  
  172. Like Kutscher’s earlier publication, Chimu (Kutscher 1950), this book is most valuable for its generous illustrations and line drawings of Moche artwork, almost entirely from German and European collections.
  173.  
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  175.  
  176. Lehmann, Walter. Kunstgeschichte des alten Peru. Museum für Volkerkunde Berlin (Ethnological Institute of the Ethnographical Museum). Berlin: Verlag Ernst Wasmuth, 1924.
  177.  
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  179.  
  180. This work is among the foundational efforts directed at sorting out the regional differences and chronologies in the Andes. The author seeks to contextualize Andean culture history using linguistic and stylistic evidence; especially handsome for its inclusion of dozens of high-quality black-and-white photos of sites and artworks in predominantly German collections.
  181.  
  182. Find this resource:
  183.  
  184. Strong, Duncan, and Clifford Evans. Cultural Stratigraphy in the Viru Valley, Northern Peru. Columbia studies in Archaeology and Ethnology 4. New York: Columbia University Press, 1952.
  185.  
  186. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  187.  
  188. A landmark study related to evidentiary cohorts assembled as part of the larger Viru Valley Settlement Survey, led by Gordon Willey in the late 1940s, this volume assembles detailed evidence to propose relative chronology of cultural sequence for the North Coast valleys.
  189.  
  190. Find this resource:
  191.  
  192. Tello, Julio C. “Muchik.” In Inca. Vol. 4. Lima, Peru: Museo de Arqueología, Universidad Mayor de San Marcos, 1938.
  193.  
  194. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  195.  
  196. Famous Peruvian archaeologist, Julio C. Tello, published this cohort of artworks, mostly from the Museo Nacional in Lima, seeking to articulate the parameters of the previously unrecognized Mochica culture for a Spanish speaking audience.
  197.  
  198. Find this resource:
  199.  
  200. Wasserman-San Blas, Bruno John. Ceramics del antiguo Peru de la coleccion Wassermann-San Blas. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Casa Jacob Peuser, 1938.
  201.  
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  203.  
  204. An excellent early source for Moche artwork, this Buenos Aires collection later became the Nathan Cummings collection (Chicago Art Institute).
  205.  
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  207.  
  208. Methodological Approaches
  209. Over time, it has become clear that Moche art features numerous pictorial devices keyed to a range of sophisticated communication strategies. Scholars have responded with complex hermeneutic and art historical models to decipher the pictorial corpus. Such approaches are variously described as symbolic (Lavallée 1970), thematic (Donnan 1975; Donnan 1978, cited under General Overviews; Donnan and McClelland 1999; Collection PH.PC.001-Christopher B. Donnan and Donna McClelland Moche Archive, 1963-2011), narratological (Quilter 1997), pictographic or semasiographic (Boone and Mignolo 1994; Jackson 2011; Martin 2006).
  210.  
  211. Boone, Elizabeth H., and Walter D. Mignolo. Writing without Words. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1994.
  212.  
  213. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  214.  
  215. This groundbreaking collection of essays explores the idea that studies of alternative notational forms and non-alphabetic scripts, what Boone describes as “semasiographies,” provide viable models for investigation of ancient American pictographies.
  216.  
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  218.  
  219. Collection PH.PC.001-Christopher B. Donnan and Donna McClelland Moche Archive, 1963-2011. Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collections, 2014.
  220.  
  221. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  222.  
  223. The Christopher B. Donnan and Donna McClelland Moche Archive, 1963–2011, housed at Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collections, in Washington, DC, offers research access to thousands of photos and drawings of artworks gathered over the course of Donnan and McClelland’s careers. Their approach to Thematic Interpretation was based on documentation and analysis of large numbers of examples, which came mostly from photos of ceramic vessels housed in museums around the world. The materials are accessible to members of the academic community by appointment, through the Dumbarton Oaks Image Collection and Fieldwork Archive (ICFA). Instructions for gaining access can be found online.
  224.  
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  226.  
  227. Donnan, Christopher B. “The Thematic Approach to Moche Iconography.” Journal of Latin American Lore 1.2 (1975): 147–162.
  228.  
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  230.  
  231. The Thematic Approach, as first outlined by Donnan in this essay, works on the idea that Moche artists depicted a limited number of well-known social narratives, whose characters could be presented with greater or lesser degrees of complexity, but who, despite minor stylistic differences, all pertained to the same stories.
  232.  
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  234.  
  235. Donnan, Christopher B., and Donna McClelland. Moche Fineline Painting: Its Evolution and Its Artists. Los Angeles: UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural History, 1999.
  236.  
  237. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  238.  
  239. Based on many years of careful documentation and lavishly illustrated with drawings by Donna McClelland, this book uses a particular stylistic type, Moche Fineline painted ceramics, as a means of effecting content analysis, approaching questions of artistic authorship and hypothesizing change over time.
  240.  
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  242.  
  243. Jackson, Margaret A. “Moche as Visual Notation: Semasiographic Elements in Moche Ceramic Imagery.” In Their Way of Writing: Scripts, Signs and Pictographies in Pre-Columbian America. Edited by Elizabeth Hill Boone and Gary Urton. Washington, DC: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, 2011.
  244.  
  245. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  246.  
  247. Utilizing expanded definitions of pictography, script, and semasiography, many such previously applied in Mesoamerican studies, this article interrogates the presence of well-understood icons in Moche art, suggesting that in several cases they should be regarded as pictographic signs embedded within visual narrative structures.
  248.  
  249. Find this resource:
  250.  
  251. Lavallée, Danielle. Les representations animales dans le ceramique Mochica. Memoire de Maitrise, Universite de Paris IV, Memoires de l’Institut d’Ethnologie-IV. Paris: Musee de l’Homme, 1970.
  252.  
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  254.  
  255. Working with a large sample of museum pieces, the author seeks to identify and interpret various animal species presented in Moche painted and modeled ceramics. The book is subdivided into two parts, the natural world and the supernatural world, based on the degree of realism or mimetic fidelity of any given piece.
  256.  
  257. Find this resource:
  258.  
  259. Martin, Simon. “On Pre-Columbian Narrative.” In A Pre-Columbian World. Edited by J. Quilter and M. Miller, 55–103. Washington, DC: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, 2006.
  260.  
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  262.  
  263. An excellent introduction to semiotic theory applied to ancient American visual narrative traditions, Martin uses various complex pictorial scenes (Aztec, Mixtec, and Moche, among others) as case studies to demonstrate an Iconographic mode, semasiographic mode, or Glottographic mode.
  264.  
  265. Find this resource:
  266.  
  267. Quilter, Jeffrey. “The Narrative Approach to Moche Iconography.” Latin American Antiquity 8.2 (1997): 113–133.
  268.  
  269. DOI: 10.2307/971689Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  270.  
  271. Using his previous work on the Revolt of Objects theme as point of departure, Quilter’s essay expands on the idea that Moche’s complex scenes should be examined within a framework of multiple, interrelated narratives.
  272.  
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  274.  
  275. Interpretations of Moche Pictorial Imagery
  276. Despite a limited range of themes, Moche pictorial imagery presents a hugely complex repertory, sparking ferocious debate among scholars. Several key areas are presented here.
  277.  
  278. Priests, Gods, and Warriors
  279. Warriors, combat scenes, and images of captives are recurrent themes in Moche art. Referred to by some as the Warrior Narrative, the scenes of face-to-face confrontations, humiliation of prisoners, and images showing the ultimate fate of defeated warriors as sacrificial victims, are seen as a prelude to and part of the larger Sacrifice Narrative (Presentation Theme), as originally articulated by Donnan 1978 (cited under General Overviews). Within the artwork—and notwithstanding any sort of political or territorial motivations—warfare is presented as occurring within an ideological, mythologized, or ritual framework and therefore linked to religious practice and supplication of supernatural beings. There is considerable disagreement over who and how many those deities were; their identities are elusive, given the apparent ease with which visual images are modified from one iteration to another and the ways in which principal characters are appended with various accoutrements. In some instances, victorious warriors take on supernatural attributes (such as fangs or other non-naturalistic traits), perhaps to indicate high political status and possibly to signal a degree of spirit empowerment. Quilter 2008 points out that in actual practice, a relatively high degree of physical strength and aggression would be required to successfully capture an adversary. Depictions of so-called priestly figures are also generally ambiguous; in these, zoomorphic traits can become signifiers, and inanimate sometimes becomes animate. In many cases, narrative scenes point toward what are thought to have been actual events, carried out in real architectural space; analyses of step-platform pyramid motifs (De Bock 2003) and the Mountain Sacrifice scene (articulated by Zighelboim 1995) give insight on how these places were reduced to recognizable visual signs. Osteological evidence (Bourget 2016, cited under Death, Sacrifice, and Ritual Practice; Verano 2001) supports the idea that human sacrifice occurred. Studies of the Huaca de La Luna temple shed further light on how such specialized architecture functioned (Campana and Ricardo Morales 1997). Warfare, warriors, the capture of prisoners destined for sacrifice, and their eventual dispatch by priests occupied a great deal of artistic energy. In some instances, realistic ceramic arts give an idea of who the high-status individuals might have been (Donnan 2004). In other cases, the visual vocabulary is densely compounded, warriors have animal features, captives may be shown as deer (Donnan 1997), or gods as fanged supernaturals (Gölte 1994; Giersz, et al. 2005).
  280.  
  281. Campana, Cristobal, and Ricardo Morales G. Historia de una Deidad Mochica. Lima: A and B, 1997.
  282.  
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  284.  
  285. The Huaca de La Luna, whose Muchic place name indicated that this was the moon’s sacred place on earth, was originally painted with bold images of a fearsome fanged being. Called by many various names, the authors trace the pictorial antecedents of the figure almost a thousand years prior to Chavin times.
  286.  
  287. Find this resource:
  288.  
  289. De Bock, Edward K. “Templo de la escalera y ola y la hora del sacrificio humano.” In Moche: Hacia el final del milenio. Vol. 1. Edited by Santiago Uceda and Elias Mujica, 307–324. Lima: Universidad Nacional de Trujillo, 2003.
  290.  
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  292.  
  293. The Step-Fret and Wave motif (escalera y ola), repeated ad infinitum in Moche art, is here addressed as an abstract sign keyed to a larger ideological construct. Specifically, the author asserts it functions logographically as referent to the Mountain Sacrifice scene and the Huaca de La Luna at Moche.
  294.  
  295. Find this resource:
  296.  
  297. Donnan, Christopher B. “Deer Hunting and Combat: Parallel Activities in the Moche World.” In The Spirit of Ancient Peru. Edited by Kathleen Berrin, 51–59. New York: Thames and Hudson, 1997.
  298.  
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  300.  
  301. In this article, the author discusses how scenes of warriors capturing prisoners held a conceptual equivalence to deer hunting. Asserted to have been an elite or semi-elite activity, he describes many various artistic conventions that signaled conquest, domination, and impending death for both prisoners and deer.
  302.  
  303. Find this resource:
  304.  
  305. Donnan, Christopher B. Moche Portraits from Ancient Peru. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2004.
  306.  
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  308.  
  309. Assembling a cohort of over 750 portrait vessels and noting that that several specific individuals are shown repeatedly, the author suggests that these faces represent rulers or elite warriors and posits what might be the implications realistic portraiture in Moche culture.
  310.  
  311. Find this resource:
  312.  
  313. Giersz, Milosz, Krzystof Makowski, and Patrycja Przadka. El Mundo Sobrenatural Mochica. Lima: Fondo Editorial de la Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, 2005.
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  315. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  316.  
  317. Authors present detailed formal and structural analyses of particular iconographic themes and characters, with the goal of articulating what they see as a recognizable pantheon of deities. The book features excellent images, primarily of ceramics, and meticulous cataloguing various cohorts of related artworks.
  318.  
  319. Find this resource:
  320.  
  321. Gölte, Jürgen. Iconos y Narraciones. Lima: Instituto de Estudios Peruanos, 1994.
  322.  
  323. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  324.  
  325. This work closely analyzes Moche iconography, proposing that its narrative scenes relate to a single epic tale, whose hero bears changeable characteristics, sometimes called Wrinkle Face or Ai’Apaec by other authors.
  326.  
  327. Find this resource:
  328.  
  329. Lyon, Patricia J. “Archaeology and Mythology II: A Reconsideration of the Animated Objects theme in Moche Art.” In Cultures in Conflict: Current Archaeological Perspectives. Edited by Diana Claire Tkaczuk and Brian C. Vivian, 62–68. Calgary: University of Calgary Archaeological Association, 1989.
  330.  
  331. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  332.  
  333. In this article, Lyon rebuts earlier interpretations of the scene known as Revolt of Objects. Those publications proposed the scene as somehow related to fragments of myths from Guatemala and Peru where object rise up in revolt; instead, she proposes an entirely distinct narrative content. Originally published as “Arqueología y mitología: La escena de ‘los objectos animados’ y el tema de ‘el alzamiento de los objectos.’” Scripta Ethnologica 6 (1981): 103–108.
  334.  
  335. Find this resource:
  336.  
  337. Quilter, Jeffrey. “Art and Moche Martial Arts.” In The Art and Archaeology of the Moche: An Ancient Andean Society of the Peruvian North Coast. Edited by Steve Bourget and Kimberly L. Jones, 215–228. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2008.
  338.  
  339. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  340.  
  341. The author presents an extended discussion of Moche warrior weapons and accoutrements. He explores the kinds of combat strategies suggested by the artwork and how Moche weaponry may have functioned in actual practice.
  342.  
  343. Find this resource:
  344.  
  345. Verano, John. “War and Death in the Moche World: Osteological Evidence and Visual Discourse.” In Moche Art and Archaeology in Ancient Peru. Edited by Joanne Pillsbury, 111–125. Washington, DC: National Gallery of Art, 2001.
  346.  
  347. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  348.  
  349. After first reviewing the sequence of warfare as depicted in Moche art (combat, taking prisoners, and sacrifice), Verano investigates the archaeological evidence to support the assertion that such activities actually happened. His detailed descriptions of injuries evident in the osteological record for sacrificial victims at Huaca de La Luna are particularly compelling.
  350.  
  351. Find this resource:
  352.  
  353. Zighelboim, Ari. “Mountain Scenes of Human Sacrifice in Moche Ceramic Iconography.” Journal of the Steward Anthropological Society 23.1–2 (1995): 153–188.
  354.  
  355. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  356.  
  357. A detailed analysis of component elements comprising the Moche Mountain Sacrifice scene, including densely figured versions versus highly abbreviated versions.
  358.  
  359. Find this resource:
  360.  
  361. Death, Sacrifice, and Ritual Practice
  362. Death and regeneration are frequent themes in Moche art—indeed, colonial sources suggest that veneration of ancestors comprised a major part of Andean religious observation. Burials for Moche elites were lavish and funerary rites were, apparently, huge events, as demonstrated by numerous royal tombs and imagery such as that depicted in the Moche Burial Theme (Donnan and McClelland 1979). Burial rituals for the highest elites sometimes included additional individuals, who were killed or sacrificed so that they might accompany the deceased on the journey (Arsenault 1993; Bourget 2001). These individuals appear in the artwork, as well as in tombs; scenes picturing the Dance of the Dead (Hocquenghem 1987, cited under General Overviews) sometimes show happy processions of skeletal figures playing musical instruments. Sacrifice of war captives seems also to have been conceived within an ideological framework of death and regeneration. Even modest burials show concern for the continued life of the deceased in the afterworld through inclusion food, clothing and weaving and hunting implements. Some artworks show these events in realistic ways; others refer to them in very abstract terms. Visual reiteration of particularly important sacrificial and funerary events occasionally appear in monumental form, such as in the murals at Pañamarca (Bonavía 1961; Morales Gamarra 2003); various aspects of the rituals were apparently singled out for visual elaboration (Cordy-Collins 1992).
  363.  
  364. Arsenault, Daniel. “El Personaje del Pie Amputado en la Cultura Mochica del Peru: Un Ensayo sobre la Arqueología del Poder.” Latin American Antiquity 4.3 (1993): 225–245.
  365.  
  366. DOI: 10.2307/971790Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  367.  
  368. What are interpreted as guardians, individuals with feet missing and buried as part of the royal entourage at Sipan, appear to have been part of a larger cultural symbolism, as articulated by Arsenault. In Moche iconography, an individual with prosthetic foot is seen as faithful servitor in various scenes.
  369.  
  370. Find this resource:
  371.  
  372. Bonavía, Duccio. “A Mochica Painting at Pañamarca, Peru.” American Antiquity 26.4 (1961): 540–543.
  373.  
  374. DOI: 10.2307/278744Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  375.  
  376. A famous, but now nearly vanished segment of murals at Pañamarca (Nepeña Valley) partially depicts Presentation Theme characters. Their presence allows the author to conclude that the site was part of the larger Moche territory, even though located at an “outpost” far south of the Moche Valley.
  377.  
  378. Find this resource:
  379.  
  380. Bourget, Steve. “Children and Ancestors: Ritual Practices at the Moche Site of Huaca de la Luna, North Coast of Peru.” In Ritual Sacrifice in Ancient Peru: New Discoveries and Interpretations. Edited by Elizabeth P. Benson and Anita J. Cook, 93–118. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2001.
  381.  
  382. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  383.  
  384. The sacrificial burial of two children at Huaca de La Luna is considered in relation to the larger practice of human sacrifice at Moche. The author articulates conceptual parallels between the children, sacrificial prisoners, deer and seal hunting, and veneration of ancestors.
  385.  
  386. Find this resource:
  387.  
  388. Bourget, Steve. Sacrifice, Violence, and Ideology Among the Moche: The Rise of Social Complexity in Ancient Peru. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2016.
  389.  
  390. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  391.  
  392. Bourget offers detailed descriptions of his excavations at Huaca de La Luna, exploring the relationships between human sacrifices carried out at Moche’s temple pyramid, the development of social complexity, the state polity, religion, and the elite iconography that describes those activities.
  393.  
  394. Find this resource:
  395.  
  396. Cordy-Collins, Alana. “Archaism or Tradition? The Decapitation Theme in Cupisnique and Moche Iconography.” Latin American Antiquity 3.3 (1992): 113–133.
  397.  
  398. DOI: 10.2307/971715Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  399.  
  400. Decapitation is an oft-repeated theme in Moche imagery. This study seeks to clarify the origins of the tradition as seen in the artwork, pointing to much earlier Chavin and Cupisnique antecedents.
  401.  
  402. Find this resource:
  403.  
  404. Donnan, Christopher B., and Donna McClelland. Special Issue: The Burial Theme in Moche Iconography. Studies in Precolumbian Art and Archaeology 21 (1979): 1–3, 5–46.
  405.  
  406. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  407.  
  408. The authors examine an extremely densely figured, late period, fineline painted bottle to articulate the various parts of the complex narrative it represents. They present the scene as a rollout drawing to analyze its primary narrative moments.
  409.  
  410. Find this resource:
  411.  
  412. Morales Gamarra, Ricardo. “Iconografía litúrgica y contexto arquitectónica en Huaca de la Luna.” In Moche Hacia el Final del Milenio. Vol. 1. Edited by Santiago Uceda and Elias Mujica, 425–476. Lima: Universidad Nacional de Trujillo/Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, 2003.
  413.  
  414. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  415.  
  416. Monumental architecture and practices of religious liturgy are addressed in relation to mural imagery at the Huaca de La Luna. Author asserts that the architectural layout and murals remained consistent Moche Phase 4, while later period imagery suggests an altered emphasis.
  417.  
  418. Find this resource:
  419.  
  420. Sex and Phallic Imagery
  421. Moche’s vivid representations of living humans, animals, and skeletons engaged in sex has often been remarked. Authors’ attitudes about the images tend to reflect the sexual attitudes of their times and their own personal biases. Interpretations range from seeing the sex scenes as depraved (Posnansky 1925) to symbolic of death and renewal (Bergh 1993; Bourget 2006; Weismantel 2004), humorous (Larco Hoyle 1965), or merely pragmatic (Gebhard 1970). Although no real consensus exists, the presence of highly exaggerated genitalia, ithyphallic skeletons, and so forth suggests that these images were not intended as straightforward depictions of ordinary sexual encounters.
  422.  
  423. Bergh, Susan E. “Death and Renewal in Moche Phallic-Spouted Vessels.” RES: Anthropology and Aesthetics (1993): 78–94.
  424.  
  425. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  426.  
  427. The author addresses the unusual frequency of sex-related imagery in Moche art, noting that there are several broad types. She sees these as mostly keyed to metaphoric references to landscape, water, and regeneration.
  428.  
  429. Find this resource:
  430.  
  431. Bourget, Steve. Sex, Death, and Sacrifice in Moche Religion and Visual Culture. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2006.
  432.  
  433. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  434.  
  435. A detailed exploration of the connections between sacrificial victims, excavated by the author at Huaca de La Luna, and Moche ceramic imagery. The author posits a worldview on the part of the Moche where the world of the living and the world of the ancestors are closely integrated.
  436.  
  437. Find this resource:
  438.  
  439. Gebhard, Paul H. “Sexual Motifs in Prehistoric Peruvian Ceramics.” In Studies in Erotic Art. Edited by Theodore Bowie and Cornelia V. Christenson. New York: Basic Books, 1970.
  440.  
  441. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  442.  
  443. This author approaches Moche artwork as generally mimetic. The relative frequency of depictions of anal intercourse led him to suggest that if procreation was not the intention, these may represent a manner of birth control.
  444.  
  445. Find this resource:
  446.  
  447. Larco Hoyle, Rafael. Checan: Essay on Erotic Elements in Moche Art (Ama en Moche). Geneva, Switzerland: Nagel, 1965.
  448.  
  449. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  450.  
  451. Although one of Moche’s greatest proponents, Larco was clearly uncomfortable with sexual imagery, rigidly segregating the “sex pots” from the larger corpus of art. In this essay, he categorizes some of the images as simply absurdist or humorous; others are interpreted in a literal or functionalist way.
  452.  
  453. Find this resource:
  454.  
  455. Posnansky, Arthur. “Die erotischen Keramiken der Mochicas und deren Beziehungen zur okziptalformierten Schadeln, Gesellschaft für Anthropologie.” Ethnologie und Urgeschichte 2 (1925): 67–74.
  456.  
  457. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  458.  
  459. Author seeks explanation for Moche depictions of sodomy, which he sees as a depraved practice; he suggests that the Moche’s proclivity for it stems from head injuries and cranial deformation.
  460.  
  461. Find this resource:
  462.  
  463. Weismantel, Mary. “Moche Sex Pots: Reproduction and Temporality in Ancient South America.” American Anthropologist 106.3 (2004): 495–505.
  464.  
  465. DOI: 10.1525/aa.2004.106.3.495Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  466.  
  467. The author questions whether it is accurate to address the so-called sex pots in terms of sexuality, the definition of which, she asserts is entirely culturally determined. She explores alternative ways of thinking about them as functional, liturgical, and symbolic objects.
  468.  
  469. Find this resource:
  470.  
  471. Recognizing Gender and Gender Identity
  472. Several authors address the question of gender identification and identity in Moche society. Scholars initially associated particular suites of objects, such as weapons and weaving implements, and certain types of clothing, like long tunics, headdresses, and earspools, with male and female sex and gender roles (e.g., Cole 2006; Hocquenghem and Lyon 1980; Scher 2012). Assumptions about gender and gender identifiers have sometimes combined to allow insights into regional identities (Cordy-Collins 2001). Other scholars problematize the question itself, inquiring if the male/female binary is the only gender division recognizable in Moche art (Klein and Quilter 2001), in some cases, pointing to gender fluid iconography, where meanings may be related to status roles rather than to biological sex (Williams 2006). Are costume attributes in artwork to be trusted as unselfconscious social markers, or were artists deliberately employing them for their symbolic values?
  473.  
  474. Cole, Ethan M. “A Picture’s Worth: Interpreting Moche Culture in the ‘Weaving Scene.’” MA Thesis, Department of Anthropology, University of Florida, 2006.
  475.  
  476. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  477.  
  478. In a close analysis of the famous Moche Weaving Scene painted on the rim of a Moche flaring vase in the British Museum, the author suggests that seated weavers, presumed to be female, represent members of an organized workshop for textile production.
  479.  
  480. Find this resource:
  481.  
  482. Cordy-Collins, Alana. “Labretted Ladies: Foreign Women in Northern Moche and Lambayeque Art.” In Moche Art and Archaeology in Ancient Peru. Edited by Joanne Pillsbury, 247–258. Washington, DC: National Gallery of Art, 2001.
  483.  
  484. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  485.  
  486. The author singles out figurines depicting a distinctively clad woman as representative of nonlocal origin, something that she hypothesizes may correlate to maritime interactions between North Coast Peru and Ecuador.
  487.  
  488. Find this resource:
  489.  
  490. Hocquenghem, Anne Marie, and P. Lyon. “A Class of Anthropomorphic Supernatural Females in Moche Iconography.” Ñawpa Pacha 18 (1980): 27–48.
  491.  
  492. DOI: 10.1179/naw.1980.18.1.002Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  493.  
  494. This article is among the first systematic explorations of gender identification in Moche art, prior to this time depictions of high-status individuals were assumed to be male.
  495.  
  496. Find this resource:
  497.  
  498. Klein, Cecelia, and Jeff Quilter, eds. Gender in Pre-Hispanic America. Washington, DC: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, 2001.
  499.  
  500. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  501.  
  502. Resulting from 1996 conference at Dumbarton Oaks, this collection of essays addresses various strategies for recognizing gender roles and identities in the pre-Hispanic world. With case studies from both Mesoamerica and South America, though not specifically Moche, it sets a useful tone for how best to approach the subject.
  503.  
  504. Find this resource:
  505.  
  506. Scher, Sarahh. “Markers of Masculinity: Phallic Representation in Moche Art.” Bulletin de l’Institut français d’études andines 41.2 (2012).
  507.  
  508. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  509.  
  510. The author suggests that the performance of male gender, as signified by overlarge phallic imagery, can include a range of attributes related to vitality, fertility, and physical potency; it is suggested here that these transient, energetic forces are made more permanent through visual images.
  511.  
  512. Find this resource:
  513.  
  514. Williams, Ann R. “Mystery of the Tattooed Mummy.” National Geographic 209.6 (June 2006): 70–83.
  515.  
  516. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  517.  
  518. The Señora de Cao mummy bundle contained grave goods normally associated with both males and females, raising questions about gender identities in Moche society.
  519.  
  520. Find this resource:
  521.  
  522. Archaeology, Material Culture, and Moche Society
  523. The precise nature of Moche social organization remains speculative, despite an expansive growth of research. Although Moche rulers were very likely a hereditary class of elites—perhaps warrior-priests, as some scholars suggest (Strong 1947, cited under Moche High-Status Tombs: Various Tombs)—Moche stratified society was considerably more multifaceted than such labels imply. Several distinct social roles or offices are recognizable in the archaeological record, including at least one extremely high-status office held by women (Donnan and Castillo 1992, cited Moche High-Status Tombs: San Jose de Moro, Jequetepeque Valley). Excavations have significantly increased our understanding of labor and occupational specialization. The artwork suggests that we should eventually find evidence of healers, mid-level elites, artisans, transporters, farmers, and fishermen. Collective survival depended on corporate works projects, such as canal maintenance, and in most cases, neighboring communities had no option but to develop and maintain working relationships. Long-standing corporate kin groups doubtlessly formed the basis for alliances and interconnections; associated political economies are suggested by archaeological analyses of material remains, cultigens, workshops, adobe manufacture, trade patterns, and a range of other indicia.
  524.  
  525. Moche High-Status Tombs
  526. Early Moche scholars debated whether Moche pictorialism should be interpreted as a mimetically accurate depiction of Moche life. In many regards, its images seem realistic, allowing ready association with quotidian matters. Yet it also retains a high proportion of scenes and images with fantastical creatures and embedded elements that could not possibly be real. It was not until a series of high-status Moche tombs came to light that it became clear that many of the personages depicted in Moche art corresponded to specific people or social roles that were acted out by particular individuals. In some cases, particular costumes and accoutrements associated with high-status individuals in tombs were shown to correspond to recurrent characters shown in artwork, most importantly, those shown in the Presentation Scene (also known as the Sacrifice Scene), as articulated by Donnan 1978 (cited under General Overviews).
  527.  
  528. Sipan, Lambayeque Valley
  529. It is hard to overstate the impact of the royal tombs of Sipan upon Moche studies. Containing multiple individuals, accompanied by a hoard of spectacular art and personal possessions, these tombs revealed a level of wealth and status hierarchy previously unsuspected. Description and photos first appeared in National Geographic (Alva 1988; Alva 1990) after a high-profile looting episode in the Lambayeque Valley. The occupant of the tomb was equated with Figure A of the Presentation Scene, based on his costume and possessions (Donnan 1988) Subsequent years of excavations led to multiple tombs (Alva and Donnan 1993) and the construction of an excellent museum in nearby Chiclayo, Peru.
  530.  
  531. Alva, Walter. “Discovering the New World’s Richest Unlooted Tomb.” National Geographic 174.4 (October 1988): 510–588.
  532.  
  533. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  534.  
  535. This article is the first public coverage with excellent photos of what later became known as the tomb of the Lord of Sipan, a person whose identity seems to correlate closely with a major character seen in artwork.
  536.  
  537. Find this resource:
  538.  
  539. Alva, Walter. “Splendors of the Moche, New Royal Tomb Unearthed.” National Geographic 177.6 (January 1990): 2–15.
  540.  
  541. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  542.  
  543. Within a few years, excavations at Sipan revealed additional royal burials, also heavily laden with gold, silver, and lavish grave goods. The identities of these individuals also appear to correlate to what is seen in artwork.
  544.  
  545. Find this resource:
  546.  
  547. Alva, Walter, and Christopher B. Donnan. Royal Tombs of Sipan. Los Angeles: Fowler Museum of Cultural History, University of California, 1993.
  548.  
  549. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  550.  
  551. The contents of multiple high-status tombs, along with the preliminary results of scholarly studies, are presented in this book.
  552.  
  553. Find this resource:
  554.  
  555. Donnan, Christopher B. “Unraveling the Mystery of the Warrior-Priest.” National Geographic 174.4 (1988): 550–555.
  556.  
  557. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  558.  
  559. Donnan describes specific costume elements of the individual found in the first tomb at Sipan and draws a direct correlation to a character previously articulated in his work on the Presentation Scene, Figure A, the Warrior-Priest.
  560.  
  561. Find this resource:
  562.  
  563. San Jose de Moro, Jequetepeque Valley
  564. Less than five years after Sipan, archaeologists discovered high-status burials at San Jose de Moro, in the Jequetepeque Valley. Located one valley south of Lambayeque, the identification of yet another member of the elite cast of characters found in the Presentation Scene points to a shared social narrative or ideology. The group of tombs at San Jose de Moro correlate most closely to Figure C, a hunchback priestess (Donnan and Castillo 1992, Donnan and Castillo 1994, Castillo, et al. 1994). It is significant that the same cast of characters appears to have been meaningful in more than one location, and that at least one principal character was a high-status woman.
  565.  
  566. Castillo, B., Luis Jaime, and Christopher Donnan. “La Ocupación Moche de San José de Moro, Jequetepeque.” In Moche: Propuestas y Perspectivas. Edited by Elias B. Uceda and Santiago Mujica, 93–146. Trujillo, Peru: Trujillo Universidad Nacional de la Libertad, 1994.
  567.  
  568. DOI: 10.4000/books.ifea.2391Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  569.  
  570. This essay not only presents a detailed accounting of excavations at San Jose de Moro, including the tomb of the priestess, but also articulates stratigraphy, ceramics, architectural configuration, and so forth with the intention of clarifying the occupational sequence and context of the site.
  571.  
  572. Find this resource:
  573.  
  574. Donnan, Christopher, and Luis Jaime Castillo. “Finding the Tomb of a Moche Priestess.” Archaeology 45.6 (1992): 38–42.
  575.  
  576. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  577.  
  578. In this remarkable archaeological find, the authors identify the occupant of the tomb as a very high-status female and as corresponding to the Presentation Scene’s Priestess (Figure C).
  579.  
  580. Find this resource:
  581.  
  582. Donnan, Christopher, and Castillo, Luis Jaime. “Excavaciones de tumbas de sacerdotisas Moche en San Jose de Moro, Jequetepeque.” In Moche: Propuestas y Perspectivas. Edited by Uceda and Mujica. Trujillo, 1994.
  583.  
  584. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  585.  
  586. A brief presentation of the discovery and excavation of the high-status woman, now known as the Priestess of San Jose de Moro, followed by authorial attention on the iconographic elements informing her identification as a member of the Presentation Scene cast of characters.
  587.  
  588. Find this resource:
  589.  
  590. Various Tombs
  591. As work has advanced, it is apparent that high-status Moche individuals adopted specific social roles or public personae, which they manifested in the form of particular costume elements, jewelry and headdresses. Once of the earliest recovered from controlled archaeological context was the Warrior Priest, in the Viru Valley (Strong 1947). Additional elite tombs have been found in the Chicama Valley (Franco 2008), Dos Cabezas (Donnan 2007), and the site of Ucupe (Bourget 2014, Atwood 2010). Meaningful or symbolic iconography was keyed to status and identity, as Moche’s high-status tombs make clear.
  592.  
  593. Atwood, Roger. “Top 10 Discoveries of 2009.” Archaeology 63.1 (January/February 2010): 20–27.
  594.  
  595. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  596.  
  597. The high-status burial at Ucupe (Huaca el Pueblo, Lambayeque Valley) bears mention for its proximity to the famous tombs at Sipan. The individual here does not seem to have adopted the Presentation Scene persona and was instead buried with an unusual number of masks.
  598.  
  599. Find this resource:
  600.  
  601. Bourget, Steve. Les rois mochica: Divinite et pouvoir dans le Perou ancien. Geneva, Switzerland: Somogy éditions d’Art, 2014.
  602.  
  603. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  604.  
  605. Les rois mochica describes and presents excellent images of over three hundred noteworthy artworks excavated at the Lord of Ucupe/Huaca el Pueblo royal tombs (Zaña Valley). Bourget documents the small arts that were part of an exhibition in Geneva, Switzerland. A worthy introduction to Moche for French speakers, the author sets the context with a solid introduction.
  606.  
  607. Find this resource:
  608.  
  609. Donnan, Christopher B. Moche Tombs at Dos Cabezas. Cotsen Institute of Archaeology at UCLA, Monograph 59. Los Angeles: University of California, 2007.
  610.  
  611. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  612.  
  613. Excavations at Dos Cabezas, in the Jequetepeque Valley, revealed a series of royal individuals buried with extensive grave goods and jewelry. Interestingly, the iconographic content of most objects was of familiar Moche subject matter, but an unusual complement of cylindrical headdresses raises questions about an assertion of local identity or variation.
  614.  
  615. Find this resource:
  616.  
  617. Franco, Regulo. “La Señora de Cao.” In Señores de los Reinos de la Luna. Edited by Krysztof Makowski, 280–287. Lima: Banco de Credito, 2008.
  618.  
  619. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  620.  
  621. Describing an early-phase tomb of a high-status woman at the Huaca Cao Viejo (Chicama Valley), Franco interprets the remarkable suite of jewelry, gravegoods, and polychrome murals as evocative of Presentation Theme Figure D, the Priest, based on spangle tunic and v-shaped headdress, despite the physical sex of the deceased.
  622.  
  623. Find this resource:
  624.  
  625. Strong, Duncan. “Finding the Tomb of a Warrior God.” National Geographic 16 (April 1947): 453–482.
  626.  
  627. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  628.  
  629. Huaca de La Cruz, in the Viru Valley, was among the earliest archaeologically excavated high-status Moche tombs. This article describes the burial of an individual whose costume and accoutrements suggest to the investigators that he was both warrior and priest, allowing them to draw inferences about Moche social organization.
  630.  
  631. Find this resource:
  632.  
  633. Architecture
  634. Moche’s highly charged iconography operated within specialized built environments, keyed to religious and social practices. The continuance of Moche ideology depended heavily on agency and enacted ritual. Public architecture, and especially monumental structures like pyramids, stood as physical embodiments of social identity, symbolically located at the junctures of political power and religious practice. While extended archaeological investigations expand what is known about the built environment, studies of pictorial representation draw ready parallels to it. Clarification of architectural space has been a slow process. Over time, archaeologists working at major monuments, such as at Huaca Cao Viejo/El Brujo (Franco and Vilela Puelles 2005; Franco, et al. 2003; Mujica, et al. 2007) and Huaca de La Luna (Uceda, et al. 2016; Uceda and Tufinio 2003), have made steady progress. The built environment is reflected in small arts, as Donnan 1975, an investigation of miniatures, and Wiersema 2015, a comparison of architectural structures and ceramic depictions, makes clear.
  635.  
  636. Donnan, Christopher B. “An ancient Peruvian architectural model.” The Masterkey 49.1 (1975): 20–29.
  637.  
  638. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  639.  
  640. This brief article explores the idea that curious miniature objects may in fact represent small-scale models of architectural monuments.
  641.  
  642. Find this resource:
  643.  
  644. Franco, Regulo, Cesar Galvez, and Segundo Vasquez. “Modelos, función y cronología de la Huaca Cao Viejo, complejo El Brujo.” In Moche Hacia el Final del Milenio. Vol. 2. Edited by Santiago Uceda and Elias Mujica, 125–177. Lima: Universidad Nacional de Trujillo/Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, 2003.
  645.  
  646. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  647.  
  648. Resulting from extended excavations at Huaca Cao Viejo, the authors clarify the overall layout of the monument in relation to several major building episodes, making clear the location of key features and drawing parallels with other monuments, such as Huaca Dos Cabezas, Huaca de La Luna, and Pañamarca.
  649.  
  650. Find this resource:
  651.  
  652. Franco, Regulo, and Juan Vilela Puelles. El Brujo: El mundo mágico religioso mochica y el calendario ceremonial. Lima, Peru: Minka, 2005.
  653.  
  654. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  655.  
  656. Brief summation of excavations at the site of Huaca Cao Viejo, with primary emphasis on Complex Themes murals.
  657.  
  658. Find this resource:
  659.  
  660. Mujica B., Elias, Regulo Franco J., and Eduardo Hirose M. El Brujo: Huaca Cao, centro ceremonial Moche en el Valle de Chicama. Lima, Peru: Fundación Wiese, 2007.
  661.  
  662. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  663.  
  664. This lavishly illustrated book describes the Huaca Cao Viejo (El Brujo Complex, Chicama Valley) in detail, from its earliest origins through its final colonial occupation. Included here are in-depth discussions of murals and the discovery of the Señora de Cao burial.
  665.  
  666. Find this resource:
  667.  
  668. Uceda C., Santiago, Ricardo Morales G., and Elías Mujica B. Huaca de La Luna: Templos y Dioses Moches/Moche Temples and Gods. Lima, Peru: Fundacion Backus, 2016.
  669.  
  670. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  671.  
  672. Resulting from over twenty years of continuous excavation and conservation efforts, this lavish, bilingual (Spanish/English) publication describes the architectural configurations of this major Moche religious site, its multiple phases of construction, and the scores of finely made objects recovered there. Illustrated in full color.
  673.  
  674. Find this resource:
  675.  
  676. Uceda, Santiago, and Moises Tufinio. “El Complejo Arquitectonico Religioso Moche de Huaca de La Luna: Una Aproximación a su dinámica ocupacional.” In Moche: Hacia el final del milenio. Vol. 2. Edited by Santiago Uceda and Elias Mujica, 179–228. Lima: Universidad Nacional de Trujillo/Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, 2003.
  677.  
  678. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  679.  
  680. This article gives a detailed, comprehensive description of the central monumental architecture at Huaca de La Luna (Plazas 1, 2, and 3, including the upper patios and sacrificial plaza). Since publication, subsequent excavations have opened additional structures and the Great Plaza below.
  681.  
  682. Find this resource:
  683.  
  684. Wiersema, Juliet B. Architectural Vessels of the Moche: Ceramic Diagrams of Sacred Space in Ancient Peru. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2015.
  685.  
  686. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  687.  
  688. Proceeding on the premise that ceramic representations of architectural forms in Moche ceramics reference real architectural spaces, this lavishly illustrated book presents a significant cohort of examples and proposes possible site correspondences through comparison with known monuments.
  689.  
  690. Find this resource:
  691.  
  692. Ceramic Arts
  693. Moche ceramics bear a distinct, recognizable style, popular in museum collections worldwide. As part of an extremely long-lived artistic tradition in northern Peru, most of the major motifs and forms familiar to Moche derive from earlier epochs, albeit in stylistically distinct manifestations (Donnan 1992). Objects and images played a dynamic role in the maintenance and stability of social fabric, constituting an integral element of Moche’s overall communication strategy. Their artistic consistency makes a range of inquiries possible and provides a large iconographic sample for study. Lasting eight centuries or more, the Moche ceramic style was produced and maintained by very specific technological traditions. Controlled archaeological excavations allow for testing of assertions that were previously not possible due to the lack of provenance for most of the artwork. Sequences such as Moche Phases 1–5, originally seen by Larco Hoyle 2001 (vol. 2, cited under General Overviews) as temporal indicators, are increasingly regarded as regional or spatial correlates. Excavations at Moche ceramic workshops allow us to understand many of the production and firing techniques used by Moche ceramists in the Moche Valley (Armas Asmad, et al. 1993; Bernier 2008), Chicama Valley (Attarian 1996; Jackson 2008, cited under General Overviews; Russell and Jackson 2001) and Lambayeque Valley (Shimada 1998; Shimada 2001). Ceramic imagery generally followed well-established artistic conventions that changed very little over time. Iconographic standardization is increasingly evident in later periods, and mold use seems to have played an important part (Jackson 2002). Stylistic differences are also seen as possibly indicative of pressures exerted by local factors, peculiar to specific valleys or polities (Castillo and Jaime 2010). With such a distinctive artistic signature, and as the basis for so much of what we believe about Moche, it is perhaps not surprising that a significant portion of scholarly attention focuses on ceramic art and iconography.
  694.  
  695. Armas Asmad, J., V. Chamorro Castillo, and G. Jara Flores. Investigaciones Arqueologicas en el Complejo Huaca del Sol y la Luna: Talleres Alfareros de la Sociedad Moche. Informe de Practicas Pre-Profesionales de Arqueologia. Facultad de Ciencias Sociales. Trujillo, Peru: Universidad Nacional de Trujillo, 1993.
  696.  
  697. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  698.  
  699. At the time of its excavation, this was one of only two known ceramic workshops. Located adjacent to the Huaca de La Luna, the shop did not manufacture heavy utilitarian wares but instead produced medium and fineware ceramics, employing fine orange paste and mold techniques.
  700.  
  701. Find this resource:
  702.  
  703. Attarian, Christopher J. “Plant Foods and Ceramic Production: A Case Study of Mochica Ceramic Production Specialists in the Chicama Valley, Peru.” MA Thesis, University of California, Los Angeles, 1996.
  704.  
  705. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  706.  
  707. This thesis presents strong evidence in favor of ceramic specialists at Cerro Mayal as living and working under the direct patronage of the adjacent palace at Mocollope. Analysis of residual foodstuff suggests that the workshop received steady provisions, allowing the artists to concentrate on ceramic production.
  708.  
  709. Find this resource:
  710.  
  711. Bernier, Heléne. “Especialización artesanal en el sitio Huacas de Moche: contextos de producción y función sociopolítica.” In Arqueología Mochica: Nuevos Enfoques. Edited by Luis Jaime Castillo B., Hélène Bernier, Gregory Lockard, and Julio Rucabado Yong, 33–52. Lima: Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, Fondo Editorial, 2008.
  712.  
  713. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  714.  
  715. This essay discusses evidence for craft specialization within the urban center of Moche, particularly the ceramic workshop located there.
  716.  
  717. Find this resource:
  718.  
  719. Castillo B., Luis Jaime. “Moche Politics in the Jequetepeque Valley.” In New Perspectives on Moche Political Organization. Edited by Jeffrey Quilter and Luis Jaime Castillo B., 83–109 Washington, DC: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, 2010.
  720.  
  721. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  722.  
  723. Castillo makes a case for political opportunism within a largely fractious Moche political landscape. He notes that Moche polities exhibit a range of characteristics seeming to be at once both territorially autonomous and societally integrated. Such a model could allow for a shared ideology and an adaptable iconography that functioned across multiple polities.
  724.  
  725. Find this resource:
  726.  
  727. Donnan, Christopher B. Ceramics of Ancient Peru. Los Angeles: University of California, Los Angeles Fowler Museum, 1992.
  728.  
  729. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  730.  
  731. Using examples from the Fowler Museum at UCLA, Donnan articulates ceramic production techniques, including molding, modeling and painting.
  732.  
  733. Find this resource:
  734.  
  735. Jackson, Margaret A. “Proto-Writing in Moche Pottery at Cerro Mayal, Perú.” In Andean Archaeology II. Edited by Helaine Silverman and William H. Isbell, 107–135. New York: Plenum, 2002.
  736.  
  737. DOI: 10.1007/978-1-4615-0597-6_5Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  738.  
  739. This essay describes mold use at the ceramic production site of Cerro Mayal (Chicama Valley). Of particular interest are the joinery techniques employed for multiple part mold creations, the exterior marks and notations on many molds, and the implications for how specialized ceramists may have thought about the relationships between modeled images and thematic abbreviation.
  740.  
  741. Find this resource:
  742.  
  743. Kroeber, Alfred L. “The Uhle Pottery Collections from Moche.” University of California Publications in American Archaeology and Ethnology 21.5–6 (1925).
  744.  
  745. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  746.  
  747. This source articulates the collection made at the name-site of Moche during the excavations by Max Uhle. Instrumental in establishing Moche as a distinct cultural entity.
  748.  
  749. Find this resource:
  750.  
  751. Kroeber, Alfred L. “Archaeological Explorations in Peru, Part 1: Ancient Pottery from Trujillo.” Anthropology Memoirs 2.1 (1926).
  752.  
  753. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  754.  
  755. This work is among the first to detail the characteristics that make Moche ceramics recognizable, setting the stage for later development of relative chronologies based of ceramic typologies.
  756.  
  757. Find this resource:
  758.  
  759. Russell, Glenn, and Margaret A. Jackson. “Patronage and Political Economy at Cerro Mayal, Peru.” In Moche Art and Archaeology in Ancient Peru. Edited by J. Pillsbury. Washington, DC: Center for Advanced Study of the Visual Arts, National Gallery of Art, 2001.
  760.  
  761. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  762.  
  763. A detailed description of the ceramic production site of Cerro Mayal (Chicama Valley), this essay brings together findings related to the site’s modes of production and evidence for patronage from the adjacent palace at Mocollope.
  764.  
  765. Find this resource:
  766.  
  767. Shimada, Izumi. Andean Ceramics: Technology, Organization, and Approaches. MASCA Research Papers in Science and Archaeology, Supplement to Vol. 15. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, 1998.
  768.  
  769. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  770.  
  771. This collection of essays provides in-depth analysis of ceramic production technology from workshops throughout the Andean area. Authors discuss firing and molding techniques, present typologies and data sets, and site information ranging from Formative Ecuadorian figurines to Inca provincial production.
  772.  
  773. Find this resource:
  774.  
  775. Shimada, Izumi. “Late Moche Urban Craft Production: A First Approximation.” In Moche Art and Archaeology in Ancient Peru. Edited by J. Pillsbury, 177–205. Washington, DC: Center for Advanced Study of the Visual Arts, National Gallery of Art, 2001.
  776.  
  777. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  778.  
  779. Investigating the idea of craft production by attached specialists, the author reviews evidence in favor of sponsored workshops for production of ceramics, metalwork, textiles, and other status objects at the late Moche (Phase V) site of Pampa Grande (Lambayeque Valley).
  780.  
  781. Find this resource:
  782.  
  783. Jewelry, Inlay, and Metalwork
  784. North coast metal smiths (Moche and later Chimu) were justifiably famous for their technical skill. Prior to European arrival, high-status jewelry and accoutrements were made of precious metals and tended to repeat familiar iconography, such as that seen in other media. The exact method of manufacture is not well understood, although several sources lend insight on materials and techniques. Discovery of metal workshops yields information about techniques used (Donnan 1973; Lechtman, et al. 1982; Lothrop 1950), as well as insight into the relationships between specialized craftspeople and elite patrons (Shimada 2001, cited under Ceramic Arts). Research conducted on museum collections has likewise expanded our understanding of how the objects were made (Cesareo, et al. 2016; King 2000, King 2002). In many cases, jewelry iconography and materials themselves shed light on value and meaning in Moche society (Jones 1979; Pillsbury 1996).
  785.  
  786. Cesareo, Roberto, Regulo Franco Jordan, A. Fernandez, et al. “Analysis of the Spectacular Gold and Silver from the Moche Tomb ‘Señora de Cao.’” X-Ray Spectrom 45 (2016): 138–154.
  787.  
  788. DOI: 10.1002/xrs.2680Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  789.  
  790. A technical discussion of the metallurgic techniques employed to produce the impressive array of jewelry found with the burial. A sample of one hundred finely made objects showed that they were created using a variety of metallurgical solutions, composed of gold and silver alloys, gilded copper, gilded silver, and tumbaga.
  791.  
  792. Find this resource:
  793.  
  794. Donnan, Christopher. “Precolumbian Smelter from Northern Peru.” Archaeology 26 (1973): 289–297.
  795.  
  796. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  797.  
  798. This essay describes one of the few (perhaps the only) known scene showing Moche metal manufacture. Based on a ceramic vessel depicting several people jointly firing a smelting oven, the author explores possible smelting techniques.
  799.  
  800. Find this resource:
  801.  
  802. Jones, Julie. “Mochica Works of Art in Metal: A Review.” In Precolumbian Metallurgy of South America. Edited by E. P. Benson, 53–104. Washington, DC: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collections, 1979.
  803.  
  804. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  805.  
  806. This chapter represents one of the few art historical studies attempting to define aesthetic and stylistic characteristics of Moche metalwork in a comprehensive manner. It includes mention of various types of objects: headdresses, earspools, nose ornaments, necklaces, pectorals, wrist cuffs, masks, vessels, figurines, and effigies.
  807.  
  808. Find this resource:
  809.  
  810. King, Heidi. Rain of the Moon: Silver in Ancient Peru. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000.
  811.  
  812. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  813.  
  814. This exhibition catalogue offers great insight on ancient Peruvian silver jewelry and status objects in the Metropolitan Museum collection, both in terms of iconographic interpretation, and technique of manufacture.
  815.  
  816. Find this resource:
  817.  
  818. King, Heidi. “Gold of the Americas.” Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 59 (2002): 1–57.
  819.  
  820. DOI: 10.2307/3269153Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  821.  
  822. Beautifully illustrated with artworks from the Metropolitan Museum (New York), this essay provides a concise overview of gold production in central America and the Andes. Several extraordinary Moche pieces are included, including large, inlaid earspools.
  823.  
  824. Find this resource:
  825.  
  826. Lechtman, Heather, Antonieta Erlij, and Edward J. Barry. “New Perspectives on Moche Metallurgy: Techniques of Gilding Copper at Loma Negra, Northern Peru.” American Antiquity 47.1 (1982): 3–30.
  827.  
  828. DOI: 10.2307/280051Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  829.  
  830. Analysis of copper plated artworks from the Moche site of Loma Negra demonstrates that Moche metalsmiths had mastered at least two very sophisticated gilding procedures: depletion gilding and electrochemical plating. The manner in which this was accomplished is articulated in this article.
  831.  
  832. Find this resource:
  833.  
  834. Lothrop, Samuel K. “Metalworking Tools from the Central Coast of Peru.” American Antiquity 16.2 (1950): 160–164.
  835.  
  836. DOI: 10.2307/276894Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  837.  
  838. Hammering and embossing are among the most fundamental techniques for shaping metal, but the ancient Andeans refined those techniques to an impressive degree; tools and methods are amply described in this article.
  839.  
  840. Find this resource:
  841.  
  842. Pillsbury, Joanne. “The Thorny Oyster and the Origins of Empire: Implications of Recently Uncovered Spondylus Imagery from Chan Chan, Peru.” Latin American Antiquity 7.3 (1996): 313–340.
  843.  
  844. DOI: 10.2307/972262Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  845.  
  846. Spondylus was among the most valuable of materials in the ancient Andes. It could be cut, polished, inlaid in jewelry, or interred in natural form in burials. As articulated in this article, the spondylus economy was source of considerable wealth and status for North Coast polities.
  847.  
  848. Find this resource:
  849.  
  850. Colonial, Ethnohistoric and Ethnographic Sources
  851. Our understanding of ancient coastal society depends in large measure on reconstructing the contextual circumstances of Moche life. In this regard, even though temporally separated, eye-witness accounts, colonial, ethnohistoric, and evidence from local people is invaluable. Numerous chroniclers describe their experiences and observations in Peru during the colonial period, from priests and soldiers who were present during Pizarro’s military campaign to officials who functioned as extensions of the Church and crown and individuals who pressed civil claims or who pursued other activities.
  852.  
  853. Colonial Sources
  854. Sometimes referred to as primary sources, ethnohistoric documents written during the colonial period by individuals who recorded eye-witness accounts or other testament to events that occurred during the conquest and European settlement lend nuanced insight into Andean life just when it underwent drastic change. Pillsbury 2008, a three-volume reference work, provides an extensive list of colonial sources for the Andean area. In particular, the works listed here are noteworthy for their reports about indigenous religion and lore (Arriaga 1968; Xerez and Estete 1929) and for the authors’ observations specifically related to the Peruvian North Coast (Cabello Valboa 1951; Calancha 1974–1981; Cieza de Leon 1959; Martínez de Compañon y Bujanda 1936).
  855.  
  856. Arriaga, Pablo Jose de. Extirpation of Idolatry in Peru. Translated from Spanish by Clark L. Keating. Lexington: University of Kentucky Press, 1968.
  857.  
  858. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  859.  
  860. A Jesuit priest and rector, Arriaga is perhaps most well-known for his role in the Extirpation of Idolatry campaigns beginning in 1604. In his attempts at evangelization, Arriaga’s writings give direct and detailed descriptions of native religious beliefs in the Andes. Originally published in 1641.
  861.  
  862. Find this resource:
  863.  
  864. Cabello Valboa, Miguel. Miscelanea Antartica. Lima, Peru: Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, 1951.
  865.  
  866. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  867.  
  868. Cabello Valboa’s interest in Andean historical accounts was part of a larger attempt to integrate world history with the Old Testament. Giving voice to local Andean informants, his work is especially relevant for its inclusion of details related to the Peruvian North Coast and the legend of Naimlap. Originally published in 1586.
  869.  
  870. Find this resource:
  871.  
  872. Calancha, Fray Antonio de la. Cronica Moralizada. 6 vols. Edited by Ignacio Prado Pastor. Cronicas del Perú Series. Lima, Peru: National University at San Marcos, 1974–1981.
  873.  
  874. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  875.  
  876. Calancha’s voluminous history of Augustinian evangelization efforts in Lima and Trujillo at the end of the 16th century recollects stories and detailed descriptions of local customs and traditional belief systems, which allowed moralizing moments upon which to frame his preaching. Especially pertinent are the descriptions of coastal life, religion, mythology and creation stories. Originally published in 1638.
  877.  
  878. Find this resource:
  879.  
  880. Cieza de Leon, Pedro de. Conquest of Peru. Translated by Harriet de Onis and V. W. von Hagen. Norman: University of Oklahoma, 1959.
  881.  
  882. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  883.  
  884. Although largely focused on Cieza de Leon’s travels in the sierra and the Incas, Cieza de Leon also traveled extensively on the north coast. His commentary on his experiences represent some of the earliest documented observations of the area. Originally published in 1553.
  885.  
  886. Find this resource:
  887.  
  888. Martínez de Compañon y Bujanda, Baltasar Jaime. Trujillo del Peru a fines del siglo XVIII; Dibujos y acuarelas que mando hacer el obispo. Madrid: Edicion de Jesus Dominguez Bordona, 1936.
  889.  
  890. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  891.  
  892. Martínez Compañon, as Bishop of Trujillo, made extensive records of his ecclesiastic visitations throughout the archdiocese. These form a most remarkable and cohesive document. Clearly committed to the betterment of his constituency, his generally positive tone is reflected in the accompanying nine volumes of watercolor paintings depicting local people, indigenous costumes and maps. Originally published in 1785.
  893.  
  894. Find this resource:
  895.  
  896. Pillsbury, Joanne. Guide to Documentary Sources for Andean Studies, 1530–1900. 3 vols. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2008.
  897.  
  898. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  899.  
  900. This exhaustive, meticulously researched reference work surveys an enormous range of subjects and authors. Spanning more than 350 years, authors report on the conquest and early colonization of the Andean area, the later colonial period and modern analyses of key concepts relevant to Andean life. Detailed summations of older works by more than one hundred authors make this an excellent resource.
  901.  
  902. Find this resource:
  903.  
  904. Xerez, Francisco, and Miguel de Estete. Conquista del Perú, y Viaje de Hernando Pizarro desde Caxamarca hasta Jauja. Edited by Antonio R. Rodriquez Moñino. Badajos, Spain: Casa Arqueros, 1929.
  905.  
  906. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  907.  
  908. Miguel de Estete wrote an eyewitness account of the conquest, including the ransom of Atahualpa at Cajamarca and the sack of the sacred shrine at Pachacamac. Xerez was also present in Cajamarca, and the two accounts are often published together. Of special interest are descriptions of huacas and idols encountered. Originally published in 1534.
  909.  
  910. Find this resource:
  911.  
  912. Ethnographic and Ethnohistoric Materials
  913. Scholarly attention to indigenous and traditional social arrangements on the North Coast provides insight into how local people may have perceived the world. Lopez Serano 1976 provides an excellent pictorial accompaniment to primary source, Martínez de Compañon y Bujanda 1936 (cited under Colonial Sources). Rostworowski de Diez Canseco 1961, and Rostworowski de Diez Canseco 1977, Netherly 1990, and Ramirez 1995, Ramirez 1996, interpret early colonial documents to understand social organization, indigenous lifestyles, and North Coast politics. Assuming at least some level of continuity over time, these observations are useful in helping to reconstruct how traditional worldviews are manifest in visual art. Direct descendants of Moche predecessors still inhabit the North Coast, as Brüning 1989 and Kosok 1965 document.
  914.  
  915. Brüning, Heinrich H. Estudios monograficos del Departmento de Lambayeque . . . James M. Vreeland. 2d ed. Chiclayo, Peru: SICAN, 1989.
  916.  
  917. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  918.  
  919. Documentation of traditional village life in the Lambayeque area, early 20th-century Muchic was still spoken at this time. Includes numerous photos. Originally published 1922–1923.
  920.  
  921. Find this resource:
  922.  
  923. Kosok, Paul. Life, Land, and Water in Ancient Peru. New York: Long Island University Press, 1965.
  924.  
  925. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  926.  
  927. This heavily ethnographic work addresses the people of the North Coast as direct descendants of ancient Moche and Chimu. Proceeding valley by valley, the author provides a rich assortment of photos, drawings and maps of monuments, art, artifacts, and, perhaps most valuable, aerial photos of archaeological sites before the encroachment of population and urban sprawl.
  928.  
  929. Find this resource:
  930.  
  931. Lopez Serano, Matilde. Drawings of XVIII Trujillo by Martinez Compañon. Barcelona, Spain: Editorial Patrimonio Nacional, 1976.
  932.  
  933. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  934.  
  935. Author provides an excellent complement to the primary source (Martínez de Compañon y Bujanda 1936, cited under Colonial Sources), with good quality reproductions of images—images that provide very straightforward representations of life in early colonial coastal Peru.
  936.  
  937. Find this resource:
  938.  
  939. Netherly, Patricia. “Out of Many, One: The Organization of Rule in North Coast Polities.” In The Northern Dynasties. Edited by Michael Moseley and Alana Cordy-Collins. Washington, DC: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collections, 1990.
  940.  
  941. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  942.  
  943. Analysis of colonial materials in an attempt to reconstruct how social hierarchies may have been arranged. Many of the social structures analyzed predate the European arrival.
  944.  
  945. Find this resource:
  946.  
  947. Ramirez, Susan E. “Myths and Legends as Fiction or Fact: A Historian’s Assessment of the Traditions of North Coastal Peru.” Latin American Indian Literatures Journal 10.2 (Fall 1994): 156–170.
  948.  
  949. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  950.  
  951. This is a great summation of North Coast colonial sources.
  952.  
  953. Find this resource:
  954.  
  955. Ramirez, Susan E. “De Pescadores y Agricultores: Una historia local de la gente del Valle de Chicama antes de 1565.” Bulletin de l’Institut Français de’Etudes Andines 24.2 (1995).
  956.  
  957. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  958.  
  959. Ramirez focuses on social organization specifically in the very early colonial period in the Chicama Valley.
  960.  
  961. Find this resource:
  962.  
  963. Ramirez, Susan E. The World Upside Down: Cross-Cultural Contact and conflict in Sixteenth-Century Peru. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1996.
  964.  
  965. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  966.  
  967. Focusing on the northern part of Peru, the author recasts the Spanish conquest from an indigenous point of view. Especially worthy is the author’s non-Cuscocentric approach to the material.
  968.  
  969. Find this resource:
  970.  
  971. Rostworowski de Diez Canseco, Maria. Curacas y Sucesiones: Costa Norte. Lima, Peru: Imprenta Minerva, 1961.
  972.  
  973. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  974.  
  975. This pioneering and very influential work articulates the local leaders, called Curacas by colonial sources, their territories, and the traditional lineage clans governing the North Coast valleys.
  976.  
  977. Find this resource:
  978.  
  979. Rostworowski de Diez Canseco, Maria. “Coastal Fishermen, Merchants, and Artisans in Pre-Hispanic Peru.” In The Sea in the Pre-Columbian World. Edited by E. Benson, 167–182. Washington, DC: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, 1977.
  980.  
  981. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  982.  
  983. In this essay, the author uses colonial sources to articulate what is known about specific social classes and traditional occupations in coastal Peru.
  984.  
  985. Find this resource:
  986.  
  987. Language
  988. Language can be an important cultural identifier. It can offer insight into how societies structure communication, both spoken and visual, and it can suggest specific conceptual associations sometimes reflected in graphic notation in the form of icons, signs, or rebus devices. We have no direct proof of the language spoken by the Moche people; however, at the time of the conquest, an indigenous language, apparently distinct from highland Quechua, was spoken on the North Coast. Known as Yunga, Quignam, Muchic, or Mochica, this language (or languages) was possibly derived from Macro-Chibchan language groups, perhaps a result of millennia of migrations or interactions along the Pacific maritime corridor, or it may have comprised its own singular language family. Its origins and linguistic affinities remain a point of debate among scholars. Colonial priests (Carrera 1939; Oré 1894) recorded basic grammar and vocabulary of Muchic/Yunga language, intently translating Catholic prayers and confessionals into bilingual format. For them, indigenous languages were tools for conversion of natives to Christianity. Their compilations were later augmented by Middendorf 1892, and Lehmann 1991. Linguists Stark, and Cerrón-Palomino 1995) present comparative studies attempting to contextualize coastal languages within larger language families.
  989.  
  990. Carrera, Fernando de la. Arte de la lengua yunga. Edited by Ramades A. Altieri. Tucman, Argentina: Instituto de Antropologia, 1939.
  991.  
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  993.  
  994. This is the first known grammar of indigenous North Coast language. Born in Peru (c. 1576) to an illustrious creole family of Trujillo, Carrera was himself a near-native speaker of the language. His work on Yunga allows an understanding of the language’s grammatical structure and tenses and is supported by a limited amount of contextual information not found elsewhere. Originally published in 1644.
  995.  
  996. Find this resource:
  997.  
  998. Cerrón-Palomino, Rodolfo. Lengua de Naymlap (Reconstruccion y Obsolescencia de Mochica). Lima: Pontifica Universidad Católica del Perú, Fondo Editorial, 1995.
  999.  
  1000. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1001.  
  1002. Here the author presents a strong overview of Muchic language and reconstruction of its internal structures based on multiple sources.
  1003.  
  1004. Find this resource:
  1005.  
  1006. Lehmann, Walter. “Vocabulario mochica.” In El vocabulario mochica de Walter Lehmann (1929) comparado con otras fuentes lexicas. Lima, Peru: UNMSM, 1991.
  1007.  
  1008. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1009.  
  1010. Source provides additional word lists compiled in the Lambayeque area in the 1920s.
  1011.  
  1012. Find this resource:
  1013.  
  1014. Middendorf, E. W. Das Muchik oder die Chimu-Sprache. Leipzig, Germany: F. A. Brockhaus, 1892.
  1015.  
  1016. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1017.  
  1018. A 19th-century early ethnography documenting the native language still in active use at the time in the small coastal town of Etén. Clearly a direct descendant of that documented by Carrera in the 17th century, Middendorf’s vocabulary represents a key linguistic source.
  1019.  
  1020. Find this resource:
  1021.  
  1022. Oré, Geronimo de “Rituale, seu peruanum. . .” In Langues Puquina. Textes puquina contenus dans le Rituale seu Manuale Peruanum de Geronimo de Ore, public a Naples en 1607. Raoul de La Grasserie and Luis Jeronimo de Ore. Leipzig, Germany: K. F. Koeler, 1894.
  1023.  
  1024. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1025.  
  1026. A unique document preserving a short segment of Quignam language, this is the only written example of this language known to exist. Asserted to be the form of Muchic spoken in Moche and (perhaps) the southern Moche area, Quignam is considered to be distinct from Yunga. Originally published in 1607.
  1027.  
  1028. Find this resource:
  1029.  
  1030. Stark, Louisa R. “Mayan Affinities with Yunga of Peru.” PhD diss., New York University, 1968.
  1031.  
  1032. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1033.  
  1034. This study addresses the grammar and syntax of Muchic in comparison with the Mayan language Ch’ol. It is intriguing for its suggestion that linguistic affinities between coastal Peruvian and Ecuadorian and Central American Maya languages are stronger than affinities with Andean Quechua languages.
  1035.  
  1036. Find this resource:
  1037.  
  1038. Curanderismo and Shamanism
  1039. Imagery depicting supernatural or composite creatures suggests that a part of Moche religious practice probably involved the concept of shamanic transformation—this would involve certain individuals entering an ecstatic or trancelike state for purposes of contacting supernatural forces or healing sickness. In Moche studies, healing, transformation, and images of what some see as pharmacological or medicinal plants are interconnected. Various studies address the subject of shamanistic practice through study of modern-day ethnography (Bussmann and Sharon 2009; Glass-Coffin 2010; Sharon and Donnan 1977), reflecting on how those religious practices might have manifested in Moche society (Dobkin de Rios 1977; Stone Miller 2004). Others analyze Moche imagery to identify specific plants known to have hallucinogenic qualities (McClelland 2008; Montoya 2015) and have produced research on their various pharmacological properties (Ogunbodede, et al. 2010).
  1040.  
  1041. Bussmann, Ranier W., and Douglas Sharon. “Markets, Healers, Vendors, Collectors: The Sustainability of Medicinal Plant Use in Northern Peru.” Mountain Research and Development 29.2 (05 2009): 128–134.
  1042.  
  1043. DOI: 10.1659/mrd.1083Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1044.  
  1045. The northern provinces of Peru, the coast and mountain regions toward Ecuador and the Amazon are, and always have been, sources for a rich variety of medicinal plants. This article introduces the area’s ethnobotanic resources in relation to how they are currently being produced, harvested, and brought to market.
  1046.  
  1047. Find this resource:
  1048.  
  1049. Dobkin de Rios, Marlene. “Plant Hallucinogens and the Religion of the Mochica, an Ancient Peruvian People.” Economic Botany 31.2 (1977): 189–203.
  1050.  
  1051. DOI: 10.1007/BF02866590Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1052.  
  1053. Among the first investigations of plant hallucinogens (San Pedro cactus, datura, and snuff powder) for the Moche coastal area, the author proposes how these botanicals are presented in the artwork. Her interpretation of the pictorial corpus is almost entirely related to shamanic travel, healing and battles in the spirit world.
  1054.  
  1055. Find this resource:
  1056.  
  1057. Glass-Coffin, Bonnie. “Shamanism and San Pedro through Time: Some Notes on the Archaeology, History, and Continued Use of an Entheogen in Northern Peru.” Anthropology of Consciousness 21.1 (2010): 58–82.
  1058.  
  1059. DOI: 10.1111/j.1556-3537.2010.01021.xSave Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1060.  
  1061. Archaeological, historical and contemporary ethnographic evidence for uninterrupted use of San Pedro cactus—two thousand years or more—as vehicle for shamanic travel to the spirit world; differentiation of entheogens as substances with religious use, as opposed to drugs used for recreational purposes.
  1062.  
  1063. Find this resource:
  1064.  
  1065. McClelland, Donna. “Ulluchu: An Elusive Fruit.” In The Art and Archaeology of the Moche: An Ancient Andean Society of the Peruvian North Coast. Edited by Steve Bourget and Kimberly L. Jones, 43–65. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2008.
  1066.  
  1067. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1068.  
  1069. The Ulluchu fruit, ubiquitous to Moche art, is said to have been an anticoagulant used in sacrificial rituals, but identification of an actual plant corresponding to the pictorial fruit has been elusive. This essay reprises McClelland’s early study with valuable updates and additional research.
  1070.  
  1071. Find this resource:
  1072.  
  1073. Montoya, Marie. “Multidisciplinary Study of Nectandra Sp. Seeds from Chimu Funerary Contexts at Huaca de la Luna, North Coast of Perú.” In Funerary Practices and Models in the Ancient Andes. Edited by Peter Eeckhout and Lawrence S. Owens. London: Cambridge University Press, 2015.
  1074.  
  1075. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1076.  
  1077. The presence of Nectandra seeds in funerary contexts forms the subject of this study. Were these seeds purely symbolic, or did they have a medicinal or ritual function related to illness or burial? Especially interesting are analyses of the seeds’ pharmacologically active agents and their usefulness as anticoagulant.
  1078.  
  1079. Find this resource:
  1080.  
  1081. Ogunbodede, Olabode, Douglas McCombs, Keeper Trout, Paul Daley, and Martin Terry. “New Mescaline Concentrations from 14 Taxa/Cultivars of Echinopsis spp. (Cactaceae) (‘San Pedro’) and Their Relevance to Shamanic Practice.” Journal of Ethnopharmacology 131.2 (September 2010): 356–362.
  1082.  
  1083. DOI: 10.1016/j.jep.2010.07.021Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1084.  
  1085. The study documents the levels of mescaline found in various species of San Pedro cactus, establishing scientific data for potency in relation to shamanic preference.
  1086.  
  1087. Find this resource:
  1088.  
  1089. Sharon, Douglas, and Christopher Donnan. “The Magic Cactus: Ethnoarchaeological Continuity in Peru.” Archaeology 30.6 (1977): 374–381.
  1090.  
  1091. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1092.  
  1093. An introduction to North Coast hallucinogenic cactus, San Pedro, with background information on how it is used, how it is recognized in artwork, and specific examples in art, ranging from Chavin period (as early as 1000 BCE), through Moche, colonial, and present day.
  1094.  
  1095. Find this resource:
  1096.  
  1097. Stone Miller, Rebecca. “Human-Animal Imagery, Shamanic Visions, and Ancient American Aesthetics.” RES: Anthropology and Aesthetics 45 (Spring 2004): 47–68.
  1098.  
  1099. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1100.  
  1101. Author examines shamanism as a way of thought and a set of practices, with emphasis on its social and psychological underpinnings. Based on the notion that Amerindian artists conflated human-animal beings as “real” in their definition of reality, addresses the concept of “co-essence” as an artistic theme.
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