Title Sacrifice, violence, and ideology among the Moche : the rise of social complexity in ancient Peru / Steve Bourget

Edition First edition Published Austin : University of Texas Press, 2016 ©2016

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Description 1 online resource (xiii, 431 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates) : illustrations (some color), map Series The William and Bettye Nowlin series in art, history, and culture of the Western Hemisphere William & Bettye Nowlin series in art, history, and culture of the Western Hemisphere. Contents A cultural landscape -- The Moche -- The Plaza 3A sacrificial site -- Platform II -- A ritual ecology of power -- Children and warriors -- Human sacrifice and rulership -- Violence in the rise of social complexity Summary "In a special precinct dedicated to ritual sacrifice at Huaca de la Luna on the north coast of Peru, about seventy-five men were killed and dismembered, their remains and body parts then carefully rearranged and left on the ground with numerous offerings. The discovery of this large sacrificial site--one of the most important sites of this type in the Americas--raises fundamental questions. Why was human sacrifice so central to Moche ideology and religion? And why is sacrifice so intimately related to the notions of warfare and capture? In this pioneering book, Steve Bourget marshals all the currently available information from the archaeology and visual culture of Huaca de la Luna as he seeks to understand the centrality of human sacrifice in Moche ideology and, more broadly, the role(s) of violence in the development of social complexity. He begins by providing a fully documented account of the archaeological contexts, demonstrating how closely interrelated these contexts are to the rest of Moche material culture, including its iconography, the regalia of its elite, and its monumental architecture. Bourget then probes the possible meanings of ritual violence and human sacrifice and their intimate connections with concepts of divinity, ancestry, and foreignness. He builds a convincing case that the iconography of ritual violence and the practice of human sacrifice at all the principal Moche ceremonial centers were the main devices used in the establishment and development of the Moche state."--Publisher's description Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages 415-427) and index Notes Print version record Subject Mochica Indians -- Antiquities Mochica Indians -- Religion Mochica Indians -- Social life and customs Mochica Indians -- Rites and ceremonies Human sacrifice -- Peru Human remains (Archaeology) -- Peru Social archaeology -- Peru Violence -- Peru -- History HISTORY -- Latin America -- South America. SOCIAL SCIENCE / Archaeology Antiquities Human remains (Archaeology) Human sacrifice Mochica Indians -- Antiquities Mochica Indians -- Religion Mochica Indians -- Social life and customs Social archaeology Violence Moche (Peru) -- Antiquities Peru Peru -- Moche Genre/Form History Form Electronic book ISBN 9781477308721 1477308725

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