essay
Spiders and spider decapitators in Moche iconography: identification from the contexts of Sipan, antecedents and symbolism
art and archaeology of the moche : an ancient andean society of the peruvian north coast • Austin • Published In 2008 • Pages: 247-261
By: Alva Meneses, Nestor Ignacio.
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
The tombs excavated at Sipán in the Lambayeque Valley contained representations of spiders and anthropomorphized spider beings. In this document the iconography of spider representations from Cupisnique through Moche times in the northern and southern Moche regions is traced. It is argued that the spider represented is a north coast orb-weaving spider that has a pattern on its abdomen resembling a human face. The spider was used as a metaphor for rain, ritual sacrifice, duality, and the cycle of life and death, perhaps even symbolizing a center or axis mundi uniting the two realms.
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Fauna
- Visual arts
- Burial practices and funerals
- Cosmology
- Ethnozoology
- traditionCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- Moche
- HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
- 2015
- RegionThe area the document pertains to
- South America
- Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
- Central Andes
- Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
- essay
- Evaluation
- Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
- Archaeologist
- Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
- 4: Excellent Secondary Data
- 5: Excellent Primary Data
- AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
- Sarah Berry; 2013
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- 1987
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- 3000-1200 BP (1000 BC-AD 800)
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- Piura, Lambayeque, La Libertad and Ancash regions (north coast), Peru
- NotesAdditional notes
- Nestor Ignacio Alva Meneses
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 261)
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- 2008027539
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Moche (Peru)--Antiquities