Christopher B. Donnan - Böcker

Of all the ancient civilizations that flourished in the Americas, only one perfected true portraiture of living people and produced it in quantity-the Moche who inhabited the north coast of Peru between approximately AD 100 and 800. Using the medium of three-dimensional ceramic vessels that could have contained liquid, Moche artisans typically formed the heads of the individuals they wished to portray, though sometimes they presented full figures with realistic portrait faces. Depicting an astonishing range of physical types, these portraits now allow us to meet Moche people who lived more than 1,500 years ago and to sense the nuances of their individual personalities.This pathfinding book presents the first wide-ranging, systematic study of the Moche portraits. Drawing on more than 900 examples from museums and private collections around the world-some 300 of which are illustrated here in full color-Christopher Donnan documents how the portrait tradition evolved, how the portraits were produced and distributed, who they portrayed, why they were made, and how they were used in Moche society. His analysis is supported by extensive archaeological evidence, which provides the context for portraits found in Moche tombs and midden deposits, as well as useful information for identifying the headdresses and ornaments worn by the individuals portrayed.

Archaeologists working in the Moche Valley of Peru have uncovered a number of tombs representing various cultures that flourished there prior to European contact. This book provides a full description of 103 such burials, spanning a period of more than 3,500 years. Each burial is documented with an accurate illustration of every artifact found, as well as details on the location, matrix, and construction of the graves, the individuals in the graves, and the placement of all the associated goods. This information constitutes an important resource for solving problems of ceramic chronology and style change. Age and sex data given for the burials will also enable scholars to establish status differences that existed in the pre-Columbian past. Finally, the authors have compared their sample with all the north coast burials previously reported, showing how their findings may be used to ascertain similarities and differences throughout the highland Andean region. Ancient Burial Patterns of the Moche Valley, Peru is the first diachronic study of burial practices for any Andean region. It not only demonstrates changes in funerary practices in the area but also provides insight into the nature of local cultural development. It will be useful to specialists in Andean and New World archaeology as well as to collectors of pre-Columbian art.

La Mina: A Royal Moche Tomb focuses on La Mina, an extraordinarily rich tomb that was looted on the north coast of Peru in 1987. The ceramic and metal objects it contained were among the most extraordinary ever produced in the Andean area, and it had the most colorfully decorated pre-Columbian burial chamber ever found in the Americas. The artifacts are now scattered throughout the world, nearly all of them held in private collections. In this work Donnan reveals how he was able to locate and document many of the tomb's contents and determine how the tomb was constructed and embellished.With more than two hundred color images of the archaeological treasures unearthed at La Mina--remarkable works in ceramic and metal that are among the greatest masterpieces of art from the ancient world--students and scholars will welcome the mystery of how careful archaeological sleuthing can piece together valuable information to recover what seemed to be unrecoverable.

This volume presents the results of the first three years (1983-1985) of a five-year excavation at Pacatnamu, Peru, combining archaeological excavation with physical anthropology, botany, zoology, textile analysis, ethnography, and ethnohistory. Focuses on the period of Lambayeque occupation. Bilingual in English and Spanish.

This volume presents the results of the first three years (1983-1985) of a five-year excavation at Pacatnamu, Peru, combining archaeological excavation with physical anthropology, botany, zoology, textile analysis, ethnography, and ethnohistory. Focuses on the period of Lambayeque occupation. Bilingual in English and Spanish.

This volume includes the results of a five-year excavation (1983-1987) at Pacatnamu, Peru, combining archaeological excavation with physical anthropology, botany, zoology, textile analysis, ethnography, and ethnohistory. Focuses on the period of Moche occupation. Bilingual in English and Spanish.

This volume includes the results of a five-year excavation (1983-1987) at Pacatnamu, Peru, combining archaeological excavation with physical anthropology, botany, zoology, textile analysis, ethnography, and ethnohistory. Focuses on the period of Moche occupation. Bilingual in English and Spanish.

Moche civilization flourished on the north coast of Peru from AD 200 to 800. Although the Moche had no writing system, they left a vivid artistic record of their beliefs and activities on intricately painted ceramic vessels, several thousand of which are scattered in museums and private collections throughout the world today. Unfortunately, nearly all were looted by grave robbers so their origin and context are unknown. In recent years, however, through a combination of archaeological excavation and stylistic analysis, it has been possible to identify more than 250 painted vessels from the site of San Jose de Moro. To date, this is the largest sample of Moche art from a single place and time. Thus it provides a unique opportunity to identify a distinct sub-style of Moche ceramics, and to assess its range of artistic and technological variation. Moreover, within the sample it is possible to identify multiple paintings by 18 different artists, thus elucidating the range of subject matter that an artist would paint, as well as the variation in the way he would portray the same scene. By discussing and illustrating more than 200 painted vessels from San Jose de Moro, this volume provides insights about a community of ancient Peruvian potters who shared a distinctive painting style and left a fascinating record of their achievement.

Moche civilization flourished on the north coast of Peru from AD 200 to 800. Although the Moche had no writing system, they left a vivid artistic record of their beliefs and activities on intricately painted ceramic vessels, several thousand of which are scattered in museums and private collections throughout the world today. Unfortunately, nearly all were looted by grave robbers so their origin and context are unknown. In recent years, however, through a combination of archaeological excavation and stylistic analysis, it has been possible to identify more than 250 painted vessels from the site of San Jose de Moro. To date, this is the largest sample of Moche art from a single place and time. Thus it provides a unique opportunity to identify a distinct sub-style of Moche ceramics, and to assess its range of artistic and technological variation. Moreover, within the sample it is possible to identify multiple paintings by 18 different artists, thus elucidating the range of subject matter that an artist would paint, as well as the variation in the way he would portray the same scene. By discussing and illustrating more than 200 painted vessels from San Jose de Moro, this volume provides insights about a community of ancient Peruvian potters who shared a distinctive painting style and left a fascinating record of their achievement.

Moche civilization flourished on the north coast of Peru between approximately AD 100 and 800. Although the Moche had no writing system, they left a vivid artistic record of their beliefs and activities in beautifully modeled and painted ceramic vessels, remarkable objects of gold, silver, and copper, sumptuous textiles, and carved and inlaid bone, wood, and stone. Tens of thousands of these objects can be seen today in museums and private collections throughout the world. Unfortunately, nearly all of them have been looted from Moche tombs by grave robbers, and thus there is no record of the grave, or the archaeological site, or even the valley from which they came. This lack of information severely limits what could have been learned about the Moche if the graves had been excavated archaeologically and their contents systematically recorded. This study focuses on five extraordinary Moche tombs that were archaeologically excavated at the site of Dos Cabezas. The tombs are remarkable not only for the wealth of objects they contained but also because we know how the tombs were constructed, how they relate to one another both spatially and temporally, and what individuals they contained. The tombs provide an unusual opportunity to understand aspects of Moche funerary practice that are lost when tombs are looted, and to appreciate the extraordinary artistic and technological sophistication of this ancient Peruvian civilization.

Christopher Donnan's Chotuna and Chornancap: Excavating an Ancient Peruvian Legend, explores one of the most intriguing oral histories passed down among ancient Peruvians: the legend of Naymlap, the founder of a dynasty that ruled the Lambayeque Valley of northern Peru centuries before European contact. Naymlap is said to have built his palace at a place that many now consider to be the archaeological sites of Chotuna and Chornancap. In an effort to test the validity of the Naymlap legend, Donnan directed extensive archaeological excavations at Chotuna and Chornancap--completing plans of the monumental architecture, mapping and excavating most of the major structures, and developing a chronology for the sites. This book presents the results of these excavations and demonstrates the extent to which the archaeological evidence correlates with the sequence of events described in the Naymlap legend.