The wide range of objects represented in Moche art led to the conclusion that a broad picture of the culture could be drawn from this source. But subsequent investigations of the iconography of the thousands of examples of the art have demonstrated that the large majority of sculpted and painted ceramic works have religious and ritual significance. First archaeologists developed a database of the objects represented -- ranging from relatively simple ceramic models of animals to complex scenes of ritual and battles painted on pots of several types. By identifying the complete range of animals, objects, discernible activities, and individuals (including the consistent repetition of various combinations of costume and behavior) represented in Moche art it was possible to see the limited range of subjects, characters, animals, and objects that were, for the most part, consistently recombined in ways that indicated the iconographic significance of their interrelationships. Scholars also had recourse to ethnographic analogy between Moche art and contemporary customs in Peru as well as to the post-Columbian historical record which also provided suggestive but inconclusive examples of analogous customs and beliefs. The development of thematic material was the principal basis for a renewed attack on the mysteries of Moche iconography. Donnan identified a fairly small number of themes that, along with their variant and partial versions, constitute the core of Moche iconography. Quilter built on this work and identified the narrative connections among various themes as well as developing explanations of Moche myth based on analogy with other South American myths.
Pottery was probably the principal form of art among the Moche (or Mochica) people of ancient Peru. Of more than 100,000 surviving examples of their art well over ninety percent are in this medium. Long celebrated for its naturalism, the great skill of its artists, and the v...