ARH 390 Moche Iconography A short history

Burial Ritual - Curing Practices ?

A King - a Priest – an Ancestor – a God ?

PERIOD 1930 – 1960

•

Rafael Larco Hoyle

Larco 1948

III IV

? AD

I/II

250 - 450 AD 400 - 700 AD 700 - 800 AD

V

Larco Museum Pueblo Libre

PERIOD 1930 – 1960

• • • • •

Rafael Larco Hoyle - 1938, 1939, 1945, 1966 Arturo Jimenez Borja - 1938; Gerdt Kutscher - 1948, 1951, 1954, 1956 J. C. Muelle - 1933, 1936 E. Yacovleff and F. Herrera - 1932, 1934, 1935

The main reason for the diversity in interpretations of Moche iconography is probably because the viewer does not feel alienated by the style of the images.

… many of the unusual features of the Chavin de Huantar temple becomes more intelligible if we accept the proposition that fear and awe of the supernatural, combined with social sanctions based on religious ideology, produced a degree of coercion later achieved by institutionalized force. (Richard Burger)

Not in Moche Iconography • Agriculture • Domestic activities • Irrigation work • Craft activities

PERIOD post - 1960

•

Gerdt Kutscher – 1958, 1983

– First to introduce a method of systematic analysis to Moche iconography – Need to consider each scene as being part of a unified and structured corpus

Badminton

PERIOD post - 1960

•

•

Gerdt Kutscher – 1958, 1983 Danièlle Lavallée – 1970

– Identification of animals and composite subjects

Lavallée

• Three Functions

– 1 – Accompany the dead – 2 – Protect the deceased – 3 – Surround the deceased with familiar representations of their living world

• Two Levels

– Natural depictions associated to the physical world – Non-realist scenes, propitiatory in nature

PERIOD post - 1960

•

• •

Gerdt Kutscher – 1958, 1983 Danièlle Lavallée – 1970 Elisabeth Benson – 1972 1997

– Create ensembles called complexes – Insist on the symbolic nature

1972 The Mochica: A Culture of Peru 1974 A Man and a Feline in Mochica Art 1974 Salesmen and Sleeping Warriors in Mochica Art 1975 Death-Associated Figures on Mochica Pottery 1978 The Bag with the Ruffled Top..

1979 Garments as Symbolic Language in Mochica Art 1982 The Well-dressed Captives..

1982 The Man with the V on his Headdress..

1984 The Men Who Have Bags in Their Mouths 1984 A Moche Spatula 1985 The Moche Moon 1987 Bats in South American Iconography 1988 New World Deer-Hunt Rituals 1989 Women in Mochica Art 1991 The Chtonic Canine 1991 Seven Human Figurines 1992 The World of Moche 1995 Art, Agriculture, Warfare and the Guano Islands 1997 Moche Art: Myth, History and Rite 2003 Cambios de Temas y Motivos en la Ceramica Moche n.d. Iconography Meets Archaeology

PERIOD post - 1960

•

•

• •

Gerdt Kutscher – 1958, 1983 Danièlle Lavallée – 1970 Elisabeth Benson – 1972 1997 Yuri E. Berezkin – 1980

– Attempt to create an hierarchy of composite figure based on their frequency in the icono.

– Mention the need to use other documents such as ethnohistoric information

PERIOD post - 1960

•

• • • •

Gerdt Kutscher – 1958, 1983 Danièlle Lavallée – 1970 Elisabeth Benson – 1972 1997 Yuri E. Berezkin – 1980 Anne-Marie Hocquenghem – 1977 1987

– Structuralist approach – Use of Panofsky methodology

HOCQUENGHEM’S 19 THEMES

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 1- the throwing of flowers in the air 2- the sexual union between a woman and a mythical being 3- the punishment of women and man in relation to death rituals 4- the craft production 5- the hunt of deer and other animals associated with death 6- the dance of the dead and their association with flies 7- the running scenes 8- the offering and the consumption of coca leaves 9- the scenes of combat and the capture of prisoners 10- the dances of warriors holding a special rope 11- the sacrifice 12- the carrying of sacrificial victims to the guano islands 13- the preparation of the corpses on the guano islands and the ritual hunt of sea lions 14- the entrance of the corpses in the world of the dead and its relations with acts of anal copulation and masturbation (association also with dance with death and deer) 15- the revolt of the objects 16- the scene of games 17- the presentation of cultivated plants and the dances with masks 18- the passage on a rope bridge 19- the feast scenes

We interpret Moche iconography with the help of ethnohistoric and ethnographic information on the myths and rituals from the Inca and post-Inca periods contained in written documents and that cover the Andes, the Pacific coast and the Amazonian basin. Despite differences in time and space, or in the ecological conditions of these diverse regions, this method appears to be valid because these diverse cultural areas have always been in regular contact . It is also in the measure that these regions are also constrained with the same ecological system of alternating dry and humid seasons . Structuralist vs. Structural Statements

• 1- The diverse representations are not independent from one another • 2- Each of these scenes are part of a wider context and could be related to more complex scenes.

• 3- These complex representations are in a limited number and have been reproduced a great number of times, in part or in details and in many different artistic forms.

• 4- The internal structure of the iconography is such that a similar logic must account for the totality of the representations and the diverse relation between each of them.

• 5- In consequence the task of the investigator is to attempt to reconstruct the meaning of each of these complex scenes in their totality and in all their details.

PERIOD post - 1960

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•

• • • •

Gerdt Kutscher – 1958, 1983 Danièlle Lavallée – 1970 Elisabeth Benson – 1972 1997 Yuri E. Berezkin – 1980 Anne-Marie Hocquenghem – 1977 1987 Christopher B. Donnan – 1975 1999

Donnan’s Iconographical Canons:

• scale of the representation and subjects • relative size in between the same actors in a given scene • perspective • depth of field • pose and action • sex differentiation • status • dignity • identification of species

Presentation Theme Sacrifice Ceremony Blood Ceremony

Presentation Theme or Sacrifice Ceremony

El Tuno, E. Calderon

Badminton Player Donnan 1985 Huaca del Sol

A

Individual A Alva and Donnan 1993 Tomb 1 - Sipán

Individual B Alva and Donnan 1993 Tomb 2 - Sipán

B

Individual D Bourget 2003 Tomb 3 - Sipán

D

C

Individual C Donnan and Castillo 1994 San José de Moro

PERIOD post - 1960

• • • • • •

• •

Gerdt Kutscher – 1958, 1983 Danièlle Lavallée – 1970 Elisabeth Benson – 1972 1997 Yuri E. Berezkin – 1980 Anne-Marie Hocquenghem – 1977 1987 Christopher B. Donnan – 1975 1999 Daniel Arsenault 1994 Luis Jaime Castillo 1992