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Larco Museum - Ritual Warfare and Music

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.

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.

Ceremonial Knives or Tumis
Metal. Peruvian Northern Coast. 1 CE – 1532 CE.

  • Knives, or tumis, were represented in depictions of mythological scenes of combat as the weapons used by supernatural beings to decapitate their adversaries.
  • Ceremonial knives adopted a number of forms over time. Some were crowned by sculptural representations of animals, people or ritual activities. These pieces were made using the lost wax or casting technique.

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.

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.

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.

Gilded Copper Shirt
Metal, ceramic. Peruvian Northern Coast. 1 CE – 800 CE.

  • Ceremonial shirts were important symbols of power and status. The most elaborate examples featured plaques made from precious metals which would shine and rattle as the wearer moved. These shirts were also used to clothe the rulers after death.
  • Gilded discs were incorporated into several types of ornaments from an early date. Crowns, shirts and other personal adornments featured discs, as we can see in Vicus art and, very often, in the art of the Mochica culture.

See also

Sources

Location

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