Lost in Translation in the Formative Period: The Iconography of a Bear from the Formative Period Ceramics

Summary

Throughout ancient Andean culture, animals and their attributes have been depicted in objects of material culture associated with religious ceremonies, political authority, and social status. So far, scholars have focused on only a few types of animals, including felines, serpents, caimans, and eagles, for their significant roles in Andean cosmology and society. One important animal has largely been neglected: the bear, which is actually a major species in the Andean habitat, and which also appears as the main protagonist of the ukuku (bear-man) story.

Despite such importance, the identification and interpretation of bear iconography in early Andean objects has been overlooked. In this article, I identify two ceramic vessels from the Cupisnique and Viru regions as portraying bear iconography and interpret their symbolism. Contextualizing these objects in history, I argue that the role of the bear, understood as ukuku, was important during the formative period but diminished with the onset of the Moche period.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 81st Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL (2016)   •
• Social Complexity in the Central Andean Region: Current Research on the Initial Period and Early Horizon - Part 1

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