Shamanism in Moche Art and Iconography - Maya Exploration Center

The archaeologiral record also bears witness to theimportance of puppies.In 1967, at a cemetery site namedChavina (in the Narca Valley) , eleven shrunken skulls were foundin a burial with a mummified long yellow haired puppy (Hadingham1987; 169). Duri'ng th& 1987 excavations at the site of Sipan, thernnst celebrated Moche f~lnerary site today, two of the tombs fo~lndincllrded dogs in the burial party (Rlva and Donnan 1993).The Inca had a superstition that if one tied up their dogsoutride their crying would guilt the gods into sendingrain (Hadingham 1987;258). The most widel y held be1 ief , however,was that dogs were the guides to the otherworld.Whatever theirfunction might have heen in Moche c~~lture it seems certain itrelated to their concept of shamanish.Sexual PotteryKubler remarks that only 2% of ail Mochi pottery is sesuallyexplicit (Kuhler 1984:385).Donnan's opinion is that all rroticMoche art is ceremonial (Donnan 1990123). This paper agrees withDnnrian's assessment and suggests further that the purpose of theceremony is healing.E. Renson notes that the Fanged Deity isshown having sex with a woman in an enclosure on a number ofvessrls(Fignre 67). Shs separates these images fram the rest ofthe so:~.~al. pottery pointing out low relief, unlike the normal 3-Derotica vessels. Shc also noted a connection between sex and..