The Vessel In Ancient Peru

The Moche were an Andean civilization that resided in ancient Peru. Animals were popular subjects of Moche art and were often depicted on pottery as a composite creature made up of multiple animals. One of the popular uses for pottery in the Moche civilization was to create stirrup spout vessels that held chicha beer for the elite. A specific ceramic stirrup spout vessel that appears to have animalistic qualities is the Vessel in the Shape of a Crested Animal which was found in Tomb 2 at the site of Dos Cabezas in Peru. The Vessel in the Shape of a Crested Animal is stirrup spout vessel with a ritualistic purpose that portrays a fierce hybrid animal composed of animals of significance to the Moche civilization and therefore portrays a representation …show more content…
The head of the creature resembles that of a feline animal as the face holds a ferocious expression with the mouth shaped to appear open in order for the animal to demonstrate its long fangs to employ fear similar to a feline. As one looks below the head of the creature as it is facing forward, on can see the body of a feline with front legs that have paws and sharp claws at the end. Once the object is viewed from the sides, one can begin to make the connection to a sea creature as the feline part of the body appears to transform into a swirled tail shape that curls under the animal’s stomach. After observing this swirl, it becomes apparent that this swirl also appears on the animal's head as it protrudes from its forehead and above the head in the same direction. Additionally, these swirled protrusions appear to have three dimensional triangles along the top of the swirls. These swirls allow one to conclude that the first hybrid animal may be a seahorse as seahorses are the only sea creatures that have a tail that curves towards their stomach and additionally have similar shaped ridges from the top of their heads to the end of their …show more content…
Although the Vessel in the Shape of a Crested Animal had patterns and shapes that may not be considered the most complex, its simplicity allows the presented hybrid animal to be identified and then associated with the Moche culture. These two animals may have had a cultural significance to the Moche as they are animals that have special abilities that allowed them to be stealthy or in the jaguar’s case, a ferocious animal that has the ability to attack. Lastly, the fact that the vessel was found in a tomb also contributes to the representation of the Moche culture as one can conclude that the Moche made specific vessels that were made for ritualistic purposes to ultimately be used in burial