Larco Museum Archives - Travel To Eat

June 1, 2016 by Max Distro LLC Leave a Comment

The Moche Deer Hunt

Moche Deer Hunt (450-550 CE). Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas

One of the most frequently represented rituals in Moshe pottery is the “deer hunt” (Caza del Venato). The hunters are members of the Mocha nobility, who are seen wearing fine clothing, magnificent headdresses with metal adornments, large ear ornaments and breastplates. They often carry weapons such as clubs, lances, darts and spear throwers. In this example the deer are being caught with nets with women waiting with vessels to collect the blood. The way in which these individuals are dressed indicates that this hunt was ceremonial In nature. The attire of the noble hunters is very similar to the clothing wom by the warriors who faced each other in ritual combat. In the same way that these combats were not related to the conquest of territory, but rather to the capturing of opponents for sacrifice, the aim of these hunts was to capture a deer for ritual sacrifice rather than food. The presence of the spotted dog, often the companion of the radiant God (called psychopomp in this context) and warrior priests, emphasizes the religious nature of the deer hunt.

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May 30, 2016 by Max Distro LLC 4 Comments

Moche Beans and Bird Runners

Moche Bird Runner Headdress and Ornaments (1-600 CE). Larco Museum, Lima

Two of the most common recurring themes on Moche/Mochica culture pottery are depictions of anthropomorphic birds, animals and lima beans. These themes played prominent roles in ceremonies and everyday life. Birds were precious resources in the economy of Andean societies. Merchants traded brilliantly colored parrot and macaw feathers in long-distance networks connecting the Amazonian rainforest, the Cordillera, and the remote Pacific coast, where they decorated garments of rulers and kings. Coastal agriculturalists used guano to enrich their fields. Sailors collected the valuable fertilizer offshore on sacred islands, where they left prestigious offerings. On the coast, domesticated muscovy ducks may have been part of the subsistence. One of the frequently recurring themes in Moche art is the race between human beings with the features of animals, carrying bags with lima beans and sticks in their hands. In this race the runners participated wearing their finest clothing and elaborate headdresses, one of the most characteristic of which was the circular frontal headdress.

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May 23, 2016 by Max Distro LLC Leave a Comment

Pre-Colombian Peruvian Jewelry. Larco Museum, Lima

Pre-Columbian Peruvian Jewelry. Larco Museum, Lima

“Throughout history, clothing has not only protected us from the natural elements, it has also enabled us to demonstrate who we are. Our clothing and adornments indicate our gender and social position, as well as our origins and what we do. In all ancient societies, the elite employed ways of defining themselves. In ancient Peru leaders would dress and adorn themselves with articles exclusive to their social rank. They would preside over the principal ceremonies wearing garments and ornaments which not only denoted the function they performed, but which also displayed the religious codes of their society and the emblems of power and privileged status. Their social position and identity were defined by their dress, crowns and many items of jewelry. When they died they took with them into the afterlife objects which expressed their way of seeing the world. They were interred with the ritual attire which had identified their rank during life, and which had marked them out as the descendants of the gods. Their identity transcended their earthly existence and accompanied them into the next world. After death, these rulers would be transformed into ancestors who would share a place in the celestial world with the gods.” Larco Museum

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April 7, 2016 by Max Distro LLC Leave a Comment

Moche Ceremonial Combat. Larco Museum, Lima

Moche Culture (1-800 CE). Larco Museum, Lima

At the Larco museum they had a section devoted to Moche warfare and ceremonial human sacrifice. Flourishing on the north coast of Peru between 100 and 800 CE, the Moche created ceramic vessels richly decorated with detailed, fineline paintings that relate complex tales. The surviving ceramics provide a wealth of information about Moche society and iconography. Moche artists frequently depicted warriors and warrior activities, and hundreds of these depictions can be found in museums and private collections today. The combat they depict appears to be ceremonial rather than militaristic. There are no depictions of warriors attacking castles or fortified settlements, or killing, capturing, or mistreating women or children. Moreover, there is no portrayal of equipment or tactics that involved teams of warriors acting in close coordination. We see no regular formations of troops like Greek phalanxes, or siege instruments whose operation would have involved trained squads of individuals. Although there are a few depictions of two warriors fighting a single opponent, the essence of Moche combat appears to have been the expression of individual valor, in which the warriors engage in one-on-one combat. Only rarely were combatants killed; the goal appears to have been to capture the opponent for ritual sacrifice.

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April 3, 2016 by Max Distro LLC 1 Comment

Moche Culture Portrait Vessels (1-800 CE). Larco Museum, Peru

Moche Culture Portrait Vessel (. Larco Museum, Peru

Moche Culture Portrait Vessels. Larco Museum, Peru

I was at the Larco Museum in Lima, Peru and saw these beautiful ceramics and pots, which inspired me to research this interesting and influential culture. The Moche civilization (alternatively, the Mochica culture, Early Chimu, Pre-Chimu, Proto-Chimu, etc.) flourished in northern Peru with its capital near present-day Moche and Trujillo, from about 100 AD to 800 AD, during the Regional Development Epoch. While this issue is the subject of some debate, many scholars contend that the Moche were not politically organized as a monolithic empire or state. Rather, they were likely a group of autonomous polities that shared a common elite culture, as seen in the rich iconography and monumental architecture that survive today. Moche history may be broadly divided into three periods: the emergence of the Moche culture in Early Moche (100–300 AD), its expansion and florescence during Middle Moche (300–600 AD), and the urban nucleation and subsequent collapse in Late Moche (500–750 AD). Moche portrait vessels are ceramic vessels featuring highly individualized and naturalistic representations of human faces that are unique to the Moche culture of Peru. These portrait vessels are some of the few realistic portrayals of humans found in the Precolumbian Americas.

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March 22, 2016 by Max Distro LLC Leave a Comment

Salinar Culture (200 BCE-200 CE). Larco Museum, Peru

The Salinar culture (200 B.C.-200 A.D.) that reigned on the north coast of Peru meant a short transition period between the Cupisnique and the Moche cultures. Continuity can be seen in ceramics, especially. Socially, the Salinar period was unsettled. Old fields were abandoned, fortified refuges were built and the size of population centers was increased in the hope of security provided by mass power. It has been said that the reason for the unrest of the era was the end of easily-cultivated land, when a strife over land would have led to confrontation. The Salinar ceramics largely carries on the traditions of the Cupinisque ceramics. What is missing from the Salinar vessels, however, is the artistic elegance of the Cupinisque ceramics. It has been replaced by fresh directness. The sculptural decorative motifs of the Salinar ceramics were animals and people, and one of its new areas was erotic ceramics. In addition to sculptural vessels, also plainer paint-ornamented vessels were made within the culture. The typical ground color of the Salinar ceramics changes from orange to beige.

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March 21, 2016 by Max Distro LLC Leave a Comment

Virú Culture, Northern Peru. Larco Musem, Lima

Sculptural Viru Picher from Formative Period (1250 BCE to 1 CE). Larco Museum, Lima

This Sculptural Virú Pitcher from the Peruvian Formative Period represents a creature with the body of a feline, the head of an owl and the tail of a snake. The Gallinazo culture that reigned on the north coast of Peru from about 200 B.C. to 300 A.D. was developed in the river valley of Virú. That is why it is sometimes also called the Virú culture. This North Coast culture was based in the Virú Valley and extended into the Moche and Santa Valleys as well. The Virú Valley is on a coastal landscape which consists of a narrow land strip boarded by the Andes Mountains to its east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. The Gallinazo artefacts have been found from the area that extends from the river valley of Santa almost to the border of Ecuador. The Gallinazo culture is an important mark in the prehistory of the north coast, because the aristocratic administrative system that it developed and strengthened laid the foundation for the Moche culture.

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March 21, 2016 by Max Distro LLC Leave a Comment

Pre-Chavin Cultures in Peru. Larco Museum, Lima

Pacopampa Stone Mortar, Formative Epoch 1250-1 BCE. Larco Museum, Lima

Prior to the Chavín culture are cultures that are either synonymous with the Chavín or on the horizon of the Chavín culture. Pacopampa (Quechua: paqu pampa) is an archaeological site located in the northern highlands of Peru, in the department of Cajamarca. It presents the remains of a monumental ceremonial center, made with cut and polished stone. It belongs to the Formative period, dating from 1200 to 500 BC. In the 1930s Rafael Larco Hoyle visited the area where samples were collected from the lithosculpture that he then brought it to his museum in Chiclín (Trujillo) and today it is found in the Larco Museum in Lima. He was the first to report, though in a brief manner, on such findings on the site. Pacopampa was related to the Chavin culture when Julio César Tello, the father of Peruvian archeology, made his theory about the origins of the Peruvian culture. By analyzing pottery they created a stage prior to the Chavin influence Pacopampa-called Pacopampa (1200 BC), different from the one that follows, entitled Pacopampa-Chavin (700 BC). This stone mortar represents the fusion of three sacred animals of Peru, the bird, the feline and the serpent.

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March 20, 2016 by Max Distro LLC Leave a Comment

Weaving in Ancient Peru. Larco Museum, Lima

Spindles with Pinturos. Larco Museum, Lima

In ancient Peru the main materials used for spinning and weaving were cotton, alpaca, and llama wool. They were employed in a number of natural colors, from white to brown, and they were also dyed using mineral, vegetable or animal pigments. In the spinning process a spindle was used that included a feature known as a pinturo which was a type of counterweight that facilitated the rotation of the spindle and the tightening of the thread. Weaving is one of the oldest traditions in the world. In fact, since 2500 BCE it has been an important part of Peruvian culture. It sits at the very core of the Quechua culture, shaping personal and regional identities, and acting as a form of inter-regional communication. Some people vest their entire sense of personal identity in their occupation as a weaver, stating that without weaving they would no longer have an identity. Much like coffee, cashmere, or wine, the quality of cotton varies greatly. Thanks to ideal growing conditions, extra-long staple length and hand harvesting, Peruvian pima cotton is the world’s finest, prized for its exceptional durability, softness and brilliant luster.

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March 19, 2016 by Max Distro LLC 2 Comments

Paracus Culture. Larco Museum, Lima

Paracus Culture (800-175 BCE). Larco Museum, Lima

The Paracas culture originated on the south coast of Peru in the years 800-175 BCE. The most important Paracas findings come from the smallish area of Paracas peninsula that has given the name to the culture. Thousands of gorgeous textiles found in ancient cemeteries are especially significant. The Paracas culture was an Andean society between approximately 800 BCE and 100 BCE, with an extensive knowledge of irrigation and water management and significant contributions in the textile arts. It was located in what today is the Ica Region of Peru (in the south of Peru). Most information about the lives of the Paracas people comes from excavations at the large seaside Paracas site on the Paracas Peninsula, first investigated by the Peruvian archaeologist Julio Tello in the 1920s. Besides textiles, ceramics were a significant art form of the Paracas culture. In the early ceramics of the area one can detect powerful influence of the Chavin culture, but relatively soon themes such as the surrounding maritime nature were established as the ornamental motifs. The Paracas ceramics have a black ground color. The vessels were decorated only after the baking with the help of resin-based colours. Also the so-called light Topará ceramics has been found in the Paracas tombs, but it is presumably imported.

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The Moche Deer Hunt

Moche Beans and Bird Runners

Pre-Colombian Peruvian Jewelry. Larco Museum, Lima

Moche Ceremonial Combat. Larco Museum, Lima

Moche Culture Portrait Vessels (1-800 CE). Larco Museum, Peru

Salinar Culture (200 BCE-200 CE). Larco Museum, Peru

Virú Culture, Northern Peru. Larco Musem, Lima

Pre-Chavin Cultures in Peru. Larco Museum, Lima

Weaving in Ancient Peru. Larco Museum, Lima

Paracus Culture. Larco Museum, Lima

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