The Moche, or Mochica, created an extraordinary civilization on the north coast of Peru for most of the first millennium AD. Although they had no written language with which to record their history and beliefs, the Moche built enormous ceremonial edifices and embellished them with mural paintings depicting supernatural figures and rituals. Highly skilled Moche artisans crafted remarkable ceramic vessels, which they painted with figures and scenes or modeled like sculpture, and mastered metallurgy in gold, silver, and copper to make impressive symbolic ornaments. They also wove textiles that were complex in execution and design.

A senior scholar renowned for her discoveries about the Moche, Elizabeth P. Benson published the first English-language monograph on the subject in 1972. Now in this volume, she draws on decades of knowledge, as well as the findings of other researchers, to offer a grand overview of all that is currently known about the Moche. Touching on all significant aspects of Moche culture, she covers such topics as their worldview and ritual life, ceremonial architecture and murals, art and craft, supernatural beings, government and warfare, and burial and the afterlife. She demonstrates that the Moche expressed, with symbolic language in metal and clay, what cultures in other parts of the world presented in writing. Indeed, Benson asserts that the accomplishments of the Moche are comparable to those of their Mesoamerica contemporaries, the Maya, which makes them one of the most advanced civilizations of pre-Columbian America.

One of the world's leading authorities presents a major overview of the Moche, one of pre-Columbian America's greatest civilizations, renowned for its monumental architecture, metalwork, ceramics, and textiles

About the Author

Elizabeth P. Benson has published numerous articles, monographs, and catalogue descriptions on the Moche. For many years, she worked with the Robert Woods Bliss Collection of Pre-Columbian Art, first at the National Gallery of Art and then at Dumbarton Oaks, where she installed the collection and established the pre-Columbian publication and fellowship programs. She has also lectured widely and has taught at American University, the Catholic University of America, Columbia University, and the University of Texas at Austin.

Reviews
"In 1972, Benson published the first synthesis in English of the Moche culture of the north coast of Peru. Now this senior scholar provides the most comprehensive overview of one of the greatest irrigation-based civilizations in the world...This extraordinary book with its wonderful illustrations and photos is a must read for everyone interested in one of the great civilizations of the NewWorld. Essential." - Choice



Book Information
ISBN 9780292737594
Author Elizabeth P. Benson
Format Hardback
Page Count 192
Imprint University of Texas Press
Publisher University of Texas Press
Weight(grams) 794g
Dimensions(mm) 279mm * 216mm * 20mm