ART ON VIEW
slit or were otherwise dispatched.7 This ritual was
intended to guarantee not only human and agricultural
72
fertility but also legitimized the social and
political roles of the members of the priestly class
that carried out the sacrifi ces. These were a key
element of the theocratic societies that emerged in
the Cupisnique period and reached their apogee
during the early Moche civilization.
Palace complexes, like that unearthed at the
Chotuna-Chornancap site, are indicative of an
entirely different type of social structure in which
power did not emanate from religion but rather
from a political and administrative organization.
This role was supported by the military and by
its leaders, who legitimized the power of the lord.
Such palaces had special chambers in which meetings
relating to political and administrative decisions
were held. They were also equipped with
large storerooms and housed craftsmen who produced
luxury goods destined for use by the elites.
The walls were decorated with polychrome paintings
and bas-reliefs that included representations
of mythical individuals, birds, and symbols.
The exhibition features a model of the ancient
temple of Huaca de la Luna, accompanied by
a video about its mural decorations, as well as
other ancient ceramic architectural models. One
of the exhibition’s highlights is a wooden Chimúperiod
model of a major courtyard at the palace
of Chan Chan, the capital of the Chimú kingdom
in the Moche Valley. This interior court is decorated
with imagery relating to ceremonial ancestor
veneration, in which, at a specifi c time of the year,
the king’s remains, wrapped in a funerary bundle,
were displayed in the court of his palace in order to
renew the bonds of his alliance with his ancestors.
The fi nal part of the exhibition, titled “A Thousand
Years of Women in Power,” examines fi ve
tombs of high-ranking women with important
functions in Moche and Lambayeque societies. At
a time when the subject of the equality of men and
women remains a current topic, it is particularly
interesting and timely to observe that in pre-Inca
societies, the women of northern Peru came to
power quite early, as demonstrated by the Lady of
Cao, and continued to wield that power until the
Lambayeque period, as we see from the Priestess
of Chornancap. We do not know the precise circumstances
by which they acquired these rights,
but it is likely that power was handed down from
generation to generation. The installation in this
section shows objects that accompanied these
powerful women to the grave, including gifts
offered as tribute by other societies, both neigh-
FIG. 8 (left): Pectoral. Late
Lambeyeque, Peru.
AD 1100–1400.
Spondylus shell. L: 22 cm.
Museo Arqueológico Nacional Brüning,
inv. 00030.
© Lambeyeque, Proyecto Chotuna –
Museo Arqueológico Nacional Brüning,
Ministère de la Culture du Pérou.