Moche Ceramics
Moche pottery is some of the most varied in the world. The use of mold technology is evident. This would have enabled the mass production of certain forms. But Moche ceramics vary widely in shape and theme, with most important social activities documented in pottery, including war, metalwork, weaving and sex.
Traditional north coast Peruvian ceramic art uses a limited palette, relying primarily on red and white; fineline painting, fully modeled clay, veristic figures, and stirrup spouts. Moche ceramics created between 150800 CE epitomize this style. Moche pots have been found not just at major north coast archaeological sites, such as Huaca de la luna, Huaca del sol, and Sipan, but also at small villages and unrecorded burial sites as well.
At least 500 Moche ceramics have sexual themes. The most frequently depicted act is anal sex, with scenes of vaginal penetration being very rare. Most pairs are heterosexual, with carefully carved genitalia to show that the anus, rather than the vagina, is being penetrated. Often, an infant is depicted breastfeeding while the couple has sex. Fellatio is sometimes represented, but cunnilingus is absent. Some depict male skeletons masturbating, or being masturbated by living women.
Because irrigation was the source of wealth and foundation of the empire, the Moche culture emphasized the importance of circulation and flow. Expanding upon this, Moche artwork frequently depicted the passage of fluids, particularly life fluids through vulnerable human orifices. There are countless images of defeated warriors losing life fluids through their nose, or helpless victims getting their eyes torn out by birds or captors. Images of captive sex-slaves with gaping orifices and leaking fluids portray extreme exposure, humiliation, and a loss of power.
The coloration of Moche pottery is often simple, with yellowish cream and rich red used almost exclusively on elite pieces. White and black are rarely used. The Moche are known for their portraiture pottery. The pottery portraits created by the Moche appear to represent actual individuals. Many of the portraits are of individuals with physical disfigurements or genetic defects.
The realistic detail in Moche ceramics may have helped them serve as didactic models. Older generations could pass down general knowledge about reciprocity and embodiment to younger generations through such portrayals. The sex pots could teach about procreation, sexual pleasure, cultural and social norms, a sort of immortality, and transfer of life and souls, transformation, and the relationship between the two cyclical views of nature and life.
Textiles
The Moche wove textiles, mostly using wool from vicua and alpaca. Although there are few surviving examples of this, descendants of the Moche people have strong weaving traditions.
Metalwork
The Moche discovered both electrochemical replacement plating and depletion gilding, which they used to cover copper crafts found at Loma Negra in thin layers of gold or silver. Modern attempts were able to recreate a similar chemical plating process using boiling water and salts found naturally in the area.
Further reading
- Alva, Walter (October 1988). "Discovering the New World's Richest Unlooted Tomb". National Geographic. Vol.174 no.4. pp.510555. ISSN0027-9358. OCLC643483454.
- The Art of Precolumbian Gold: The Jan Mitchell Collection. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art. 1985. ISBN978-0297786276.
- Sawyer, Alan R. (1966). Ancient Peruvian ceramics: the Nathan Cummings collection by Alan R. Sawyer. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
- Schmid, Martin (2007). Die Mochica an der Nordkste Perus Religion und Kunst einer vorinkaischen andinen Hochkultur (in German). Hamburg: Diplomica-Verl. ISBN978-3-83666-806-4.
External links
- Moche Civilization Ancient History Encyclopedia
- www.themocheroute.pe
- www.larutamoche.pe
- Map of current Moche city (Wikimapia)
- "A Peruvian Woman Warrior of A.D. 450", New York Times article (17 May 2006) by John Noble Wilford.
- "The Lost Civilisation of Peru", transcript of BBC programme, includes bibliography.
- Gallery of Moche erotic pottery at the Larco Museum.
- El Brujo Archaeological project, website with links to National University of Trujillo, IBM, National Geographic and press reports.
- "Temples of Doom", Discover article (March 1999) by Heather Pringle.
- "The Ulluchu fruit: Blood Rituals and Sacrificial Practices Among the Moche People of Ancient Peru" by Francesco Sammarco.
- "Moche pottery and the practice of war", Horniman Museum video on YouTube channel.
- Moche Iconography, Dumbarton Oaks online resource linking to digitized roll-out drawings of Moche ceramic fineline iconography.