Location: Peru Length: 6 min
Mochican iconography comes to life in this animated film, which portrays a ceremony of sacrifice carried out by the Moche culture in coastal Peru between A.D. 100 and 800. Each part of the ceremony is shown, beginning with the battle of great warriors and continuing on to the procession, the sacrifice itself and the sharing of the blood with the principal dignitary. Much of what we know about Moche Culture comes to us from images drawn on pottery. Here, those images artfully tell a story that gives witness to an important element of Moche life.
Produced in Belgium by ASEHS Studio for the Royal Museums of Art and History, Brussels, Belgium
Copyright 2008 by ASEHS Studio
Web links:
Moche Culture (Wikipedia)
Moche Iconography (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
The Sacrifice Ceremony: Battles and Death in Mochica Art (PDF; Luis Jaime Castillo Butters, 2000, Pontifical Catholic University of Peru)