Description
Book SynopsisElaborately decorated monumental architecture, royal tombs, and ritual human sacrifice have established the Moche of ancient Peru (AD 200–800) as a culturally rich and ideologically complex civilization. Because the Moche did not have a text-based writing system, their sophisticated works of art, which communicated complex concepts, specific ideas, and detailed narratives, have become a prime source for understanding the Moche worldview. This pioneering volume presents the first book-length study of one of the most compelling forms of Moche art—fine ware ceramics that depict architectural structures in miniature.
Assembling a data set of some two hundred objects, Architectural Vessels of the Moche interprets the form and symbolism of these artworks and their relationship to full-scale excavated Moche architectural remains. Juliet B. Wiersema reveals that Moche architectural vessels preserve aspects of Moche monumental architecture that have been irreparably
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Abbreviations
Introduction
1. Moche Architectural Vessels: An Overview
2. Visualizing and Visually Communicating Architectural Space
3. The Moche Architectural Vessel Corpus and Its Correspondence with the Archaeological Record
4. Ceramic Diagrams of Sacred Space: Vessels of the Enclosed Gabled Type
5. Moche Architectural Whistling Vessels: Their Technical Construction and Acoustic Properties
6. Architectural Representations in Other Cultures
Conclusion
Notes
Bibliography
Index
