Stirrup-sput vessel with fine line depiction of a Burial Ceremony

Images of various forms of sacrifices, burial rituals and mythological characters participating in these events suggest that the Mochica, like all other pre-Columbian societies, believed in life after death and a parallel world inhabited by the dead and their ancestors. The scene represented in this bottle is known as the Burial Ceremony and is one of the major themes represented in the iconography of the Late Mochica period in Jequetepeque. It identifies three main episodes: the sacrifice of a woman, the offering of seashells to a divinity, and the burial of a high ranking personage in the presence of an audience of women and animals. Although the order of these events remains unknown, it is possible that they happened at different times given that the same characters are portrayed in different scenes. The Burial image reveals that the Mochica must have allocated significant resources to the preparation of their funeral ceremonies, especially for those of high ranking individuals. (CP)