essay

The Chotuna friezes and the Chotuna-dragon connection

northern dynasties : kingship and statecraft in chimor: a symposium at dumbarton oaks, 12th and 13th october 1985 • Washington, D.C. • Published In 1990 • Pages: 275-296

By: Donnan, Christopher B..

Abstract

At Chotuna in the Lambayeque Valley there are friezes in a courtyard to the northwest of Huaca Gloria preserved by windblown sand. Radiocarbon dates are provided, as well as drawings of the courtyard and friezes. The friezes are compared to similar ones at the contemporary site of Dragon in the Moche Valley, and reference is made to similar motifs in Moche and Chimu ceramics. The iconography of the Chotuna friezes may have been copied from painted textiles that served to disseminate a complex iconography throughout a wide area. This would account for the blurring of detail on the Chotuna friezes when compared with the ones at Dragon in the Moche Valley, and indicates the artists were unfamiliar with the images at their source. The arched, double-headed serpent with a human figure underneath first appeared in early Moche, and use of the motifs appears to have spread north from around the Supe Valley.

HRAF PubDate

2015

Region

South America

Sub Region

Central Andes

Document Type

essay

Evaluation

Creator Type

Archaeologist

Document Rating

4: Excellent Secondary Data

5: Excellent Primary Data

Analyst

Sarah Berry; 2014

Field Date

1980-1982

Coverage Date

900-650 BP (AD 1100-1350)

Coverage Place

Chotuna, Lambayeque district (Lambayeque Valley) and Dragon, La Esperanza, Trujillo (Moche Valley), La Libertad, Peru

Notes

Christopher B. Donnan

Includes bibliographical references (p. 295-296)

LCCN

89023336

LCSH

Chimu Indians--Politics and government--Congresses

Chimu Indians--Antiquities--Congresses

Chan Chan Site (Peru)--Congresses

Peru--Antiquities--Congresses