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The Symbolic Value of Food in Moche Iconography

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Andean Foodways

Part of the book series: The Latin American Studies Book Series ((LASBS))

Abstract

Moche art is well known for its apparent pictorial veracity in ceramic and architectural imagery. Yet, the visual record is not definitive about which images, if any, depict food. The importance of food is expressed through an assortment of indexical references to conceptions of deity and assertions of religious practice. Specific kinds of agricultural produce, particular fruit, and certain animals appear often, but whether they were selected for representation because of their nutritional values or symbolic qualities is unknown. Moche imagery rarely shows images connected with sumptuous feasting. The images on ceramic vessels do not contain images of bacchanalian events, no images of tables piled with platters of food at feasts or festivals. Rather than eating food, humans, zoomorphic and supernatural beings are shown handling an array of cups and vessels in various events and rituals. Such conflations seem to signal the specific kinds of associations central to the purpose of the ceramic assemblages in which they appear and the ideological foundations on which they were based. The questions raised by these disjunctions are the subject of the present research.

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  1. Department of Art: Studio, History, Education, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, US

    Margaret A. Jackson

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    John E. Staller

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Jackson, M.A. (2021). The Symbolic Value of Food in Moche Iconography. In: Staller, J.E. (eds) Andean Foodways. The Latin American Studies Book Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-51629-1_10

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