Faces of the Feast: The Spatial Organization of Face-Neck Jars in the Jequetepeque Valley, Peru.

Summary

Chicha was consumed in large quantities during social gatherings and feasting events at a number of ceremonial locales including hinterland sites, in the Jequetepeque River Valley, Peru, during the Late Moche. Face-neck jars were used in the brewing and serving of corn beer and depict supernaturals and elite lords with elaborate headdresses and earspools. This research showed the degree to which face-neck jars were standardized in manufacture and design and how this may have contributed to the materialization of a regional Moche identity that possibly transcended sectarian social and political differences. The faces were impressed on the necks of the vessels with the use of one-piece moulds and formed part of a shared manufacturing technique in a river valley that was characterized by political and religious decentralization. At San Ildefonso the use of these standardized Moche wares depicting male elites and supernaturals appears to have anchored the feasting rites of separate but possibly confederated communities. This made chicha production central to the political and ritual economies of ancient Andean polities, and the face-neck jars likely symbolized the generosity of local lords who sponsored feasts and religious events.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 17370