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Larco Museum - Ritual Warfare and Music, Lima, Peru

In today’s world wars are motivated by political, territorial and economic interests. Nobody goes to war in gold and silver outfits, jewelry and crowns. The function of combat gear is to protect combatants and make them less vulnerable.

However, in their art pre-Columbian cultures represented warriors prepared for and participating in battle wearing luxurious clothing and adornments. Some of these items are not particularly functional in the context of an activity which requires movement, speed and efficiency when attacking. These adornments were used as religious and status symbols during combat which served a ceremonial function.

Human warriors fought as the gods of mythology did. Some of these gods fought on land or sea; they fought to defeat the night and restore daylight, and they fought to connect the world of the heavens with the earthly world through rainfall. This combat culminated in blood sacrifices in honor of one of the major gods. The greatest sacrifice of all was offered in exchange for the future wellbeing of society as a whole.

In Andean societies, music and dance have always been present. Ceremonies associated with the worship of water, processions and pilgrimages to sacred places, preparations for ritual combat, burials and sacrifices, were all accompanied by music and dance.

Ritual warfare and music room

Club heads
Metal, stone. Peruvian Northern Coast. 1250 BCE – 800 CE.

  • Clubs were the most commonly used offensive weapons of ancient Peru and they were employed during warfare and in ceremonies.
  • The handles of these clubs were made from wood, and the heads could be fashioned from wood, stone or metal. They were often shaped like discs, stars or rosettes, while others might be shaped like a cactus or a zoomorphic head.
  • See more at 9.106. Club Heads - Museo Larco.

Mochica Warrior Clothing
Ceramic. Peruvian Northern Coast. Florescent Epoch (1 CE – 800 CE).

  • The luxurious clothing worn by warriors emphasizes the ceremonial nature of warfare.
  • In Mochica art warrior chiefs wear conical-shaped helmets and carry clubs.
  • In rituals some ceremonial knives also served as rattles and represented clubs.
  • See more at 9.110. Mochica Warrior Clothing - Museo Larco.

Ceremonial trumpet or pututo, and whistles
Metal, ceramic, conch. Peruvian Northern Coast. 1 CE – 1532 CE.

  • The tropical mollusk Strombus was used in the Andes as a ceremonial trumpet, and this type of instrument was known as a pututo.
  • The Strombus is a warm water seashell associated with the cycle of water. Water originates in the sea and then returns to the earth as rainfall, and via rivers and canals it irrigates the land and causes plants to flourish. Pututos, which produce a strong, deep sound, were played by trumpeters in ceremonies associated with water.
  • Strombus shells were also important offerings to the gods, who had to be thanked for the blessings they bestowed. That is why they are found in groups of offerings placed in important temples, beginning during the Formative Epoch. In ancient Peru ceramic trumpets were also made, and their designs recreated the shape of these seashells.
  • Ceramic Mochica trumpeter; Mochica Strombus seashell pututo; Mochica ceramic pututo; miniature gilded copper Strombus; silver Chimú whistles; seashell whistles.
  • See more at 9.114. Ceremonial Trumpet or Pututo, and Whistles - Museo Larco.

Musician playing panpipes
Ceramic, metal. Peruvian Northern Coast. Florescent Epoch (1 CE – 800 CE).

  • The so-called Indian flute, also known as panpipes, is a typical Andean musical instrument and to this day it forms one of the most important elements of Peruvian folkloric music.
  • In ancient Peru this instrument was played in ceremonies. In Mochica depictions of the dance of the dead or scenes associated with the underworld, musicians play the panpipes before a confrontation. This instrument is played in pairs, reinforcing the sense of a search for contact between opposites.
  • Gilded copper Mochica whistle; Mochica ceramic with a ritual dance scene and musician playing panpipes; Nasca culture panpipes.
  • See more at 9.115. Musician Playing Panpipes - Museo Larco.

Mochica warrior dance
Ceramic, bone. Peruvian Northern Coast. Florescent Epoch (1 CE – 800 CE).

  • The Dance with a Rope was a ceremony in which warrior chiefs participated dressed in their finest clothing and personal adornments. This was a celebration associated with ritual combat and sacrifices. This dance has been represented in the art of a number of the cultures of ancient Peru, from the Mochica to the Incas.
  • In the Dance of the Rope depicted in Mochica art, the main protagonist wears the clothing of a warrior chief, with a conical helmet and coccyx protector. He also possesses the teeth of a feline, in a clear allusion to his supposedly supernatural character. This supernatural warrior appears at the center of the ceremony holding a rope, while two groups of warriors can be seen at his sides wearing their own ceremonial clothing. Some of the warriors wear shirts decorated with square plaques, while others wear shirts adorned with circular metal decorations. Musicians playing a drum and flute and dancers accompany the ritual dance.
  • Mochica ceramic; bone flutes.
  • See more at 9.116. Mochica Warrior Dance - Museo Larco.

See also

Sources

Location

Location: Av. Simón Bolivar 1515 Ingreso por, frente al, Parque Larco, Navarra 169, Pueblo Libre 15084, Peru