Anura in Moche Iconography

Summary

The topic of this work is the anura, i.e. frogs and toads, in Moche iconography. Its primary aim is to establish if the anura were, in Moche cosmovision, associated with rains and agricultural fertility. During the early stages of this project, I gathered data and interpretations about the anura, while at the later stage, I built upon these findings to establish a classification system for these amphibians. The objectives of the classification are: first, to create a comprehensive database of anura, and secondly to create a flexible framework that can be used for future research and developed further. In order to reach the objectives and, because of the lack of written sources, an adaptation of the Panofsky method was employed. The outcome of this research illuminates links between the anura, and specific characteristics and concepts underlying Moche culture, e.g. the agricultural fertility. The different anura depictions, in particular the "sapo botánico", show a direct connection between these animals and plant growth, water, rain and fertility.

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage