Emerging from the Mountain Cave
A New Proposed Narrative for a Cave Opening Sequence in Moche Mountain Sacrifice Scenes
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 20193831 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Christopher Selwyn Wai (0009-0009-9172-2722, University of Toronto, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Pages | 1-20 |
| Publication date | 2026-06-18 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Latin American Antiquity (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1045-6635 • E-ISSN: 2325-5080 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/laq.2026.10185 |
| OpenAlex | W7165185107 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 22 |
Reconstructions of Moche ritual sacrifice have relied heavily on iconographic depictions of elaborate rituals conducted on mountains and sacrifices at adobe temples. Scholars have categorized mountain scenes, proposed that Huaca de la Luna symbolized sacred mountains, and argued that one of the main mountain scenes entails the liberation of a figure known as Dios A. However, the large corpus of mountain iconography remains underanalyzed, and few existing publications incorporate data from mountainside sites. In this article, I propose a more specific Mountainside Sacrifice and Cave Opening mythic narrative encoded in these scenes, comparable to the Presentation Theme / Sacrifice Ceremony. I argue that future surveys and excavations must include thorough investigations of north coast mountains of Peru
Cave · Iconography · Narrative · Sacrifice · Sequence (biology) · Theme (computing) · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Indian and Buddhist Studies · Latin American history and culture
Context, Construction, and Ritual in the Development of Authority at Chavín de Huántar
La ocupación del Periodo Inicial Tardío (1100/1000 – 800 a.C.) y el Horizonte Temprano (800-500/400 a.C.) en Huanchaco, Costa Norte del Perú
Astronomy of the Inca Empire
Moche chronology of ancient Peru
El patrón de la arquitectura monumental del territorio moche del sur
An Identification of Anthropomorphic Mythological Personages in Moche Representations
Moche Fineline Painting From San Jose De Moro
Pacariqtambo and the Mythical Origins of the Inca
The Narrative Approach to Moche Iconography
The Ancient Maya Drought Cult
The Fall of the Moche
| Highly cited | No |
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