xii + 412 pp. with numerous figs., 4to.

Ancient Burial Patterns of the Moche Valley, Peru

Donnan, Christopher B.

University of Texas Press

Of all the ancient civilizations that flourished in the Americas, only one perfected true portraiture of living people and produced it in quantity—the Moche who inhabited the north coast of Peru between approximately AD 100 and 800. Using the medium of three-dimensional ceramic vessels that could have contained liquid, Moche artisans typically formed the heads of the individuals they wished to portray, though sometimes they presented full figures with realistic portrait faces. Depicting an astonishing range of physical types, these portraits now allow us to meet Moche people who lived more than 1,500 years ago and to sense the nuances of their individual personalities.
This pathfinding book presents the first wide-ranging, systematic study of the Moche portraits. Drawing on more than 900 examples from museums and private collections around the world—some 300 of which are illustrated here in full color—Christopher Donnan documents how the portrait tradition evolved, how the portraits were produced and distributed, who they portrayed, why they were made, and how they were used in Moche society. His analysis is supported by extensive archaeological evidence, which provides the context for portraits found in Moche tombs and midden deposits, as well as useful information for identifying the headdresses and ornaments worn by the individuals portrayed.

Moche Portraits from Ancient Peru (Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long Series in Latin American and Latino Art and Culture)

Arts & Photography

History & Criticism

Archaeologists working in the Moche Valley of Peru have uncovered a number of tombs representing various cultures that flourished there prior to European contact. This book provides a full description of 103 such burials, spanning a period of more than 3,500 years. Each burial is documented with an accurate illustration of every artifact found, as well as details on the location, matrix, and construction of the graves, the individuals in the graves, and the placement of all the associated goods. This information constitutes an important resource for solving problems of ceramic chronology and style change. Age and sex data given for the burials will also enable scholars to establish status differences that existed in the pre-Columbian past. Finally, the authors have compared their sample with all the north coast burials previously reported, showing how their findings may be used to ascertain similarities and differences throughout the highland Andean region. Ancient Burial Patterns of the Moche Valley, Peru is the first diachronic study of burial practices for any Andean region. It not only demonstrates changes in funerary practices in the area but also provides insight into the nature of local cultural development. It will be useful to specialists in Andean and New World archaeology as well as to collectors of pre-Columbian art.

History

Mackey, Carol J.

Americas

Moche occupation of the Santa Valley, Peru, (University of California publications in anthropology, v. 8)

University of California Press

Review\n"La Mina: A Royal Moche Tomb is an astonishing book, both in terms of the extraordinary quality of the works under discussion and the remarkable insights the author brings to bear on the subject. It is a monumental achievement and an incomparable contribution to the field of Andean archaeology and art history."--Joanne Pillsbury, editor of Moche Art and Archaeology in Ancient Peru\nLa Mina: A Royal Moche Tomb focuses on La Mina, an extraordinarily rich tomb that was looted on the north coast of Peru in 1987. The ceramic and metal objects it contained were among the most extraordinary ever produced in the Andean area, and it had the most colorfully decorated pre-Columbian burial chamber ever found in the Americas. The artifacts are now scattered throughout the world, nearly all of them held in private collections. In this work Donnan reveals how he was able to locate and document many of the tomb's contents and determine how the tomb was constructed and embellished.\nWith more than two hundred color images of the archaeological treasures unearthed at La Mina--remarkable works in ceramic and metal that are among the greatest masterpieces of art from the ancient world--students and scholars will welcome the mystery of how careful archaeological sleuthing can piece together valuable information to recover what seemed to be unrecoverable.

La Mina: A Royal Moche Tomb

University of New Mexico Press

Burial Theme in Moche Iconography

Politics & Social Sciences

McClelland, Donna

Archaeology

Dumbarton Oaks Pub Service

Ceramics of Ancient Peru

Univ of California Museum of

This fascinating and very accessible book describes the excavation of three royal tombs of the Moche, a civilization that flourished on the north coast of Peru between A.D. 100 and 800. The tombs, which contained extraordinary gold and silver jewelry and ceremonial attire, are the richest ever excavated archaeologically in the Western Hemisphere. The detailed accounts of the tombs and methods of excavation will be useful for scholars, but the authors have made the non-specialist reader their primary audience. A skillfully designed format and fold-out pages are helpful in relating tomb artifacts to text descriptions. Providing an exemplary view of an ancient culture, the Sipn tombs have had a profound impact on our understanding of Moche civilization.

Royal Tombs of Sipan = Tumbas Reales de Sipan

University of California, Los Angeles Fowler Museum of Cultural histor

Alva, Walter

Collections, Catalogs & Exhibitions

Originally a catalogue to accompany an exhibition of the finds from the excavation of the three royal Moche tombs. The rich finds which were recovered are well illustrated here.

Royal Tombs of Sipan

Fowler Museum of Cultural History

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