Bodies in Both Worlds

Abstract

The Moche people of northern coastal Peru (c. 100 B.C.E–850 C.E.) left behind a great deal of visual communication in their art, which is unusual in its relative naturalism and realistic portrayal of human and animal figures. Although their stylistic choices appear to allow for a close study of artistic imagery and its relationship to Moche life, the Moche were selective in what they included in their iconography; their art is not a comprehensive catalogue of their culture. Nevertheless, by comparing the results of a iconographic analysis of human costume in Moche ceramics with the work of scholars who have studied Moche supernatural representations in the same medium, it is possible to move toward a deeper understanding of mid- to late Moche culture and status as depicted in their art. By focusing mainly on art produced in the middle to late Moche periods (AD 200–550), this essay provides an inquiry into general ideas in Moche culture about the supernatural, ideas which of course would have varied in their details over time and space.