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The Moche Revolt of the Objects

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Jeffrey Quilter
Jeffrey Quilter*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology and Sociology, Ripon College, Ripon, WI 54971
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Abstract

Stories involving the death of the sun and a subsequent revolt of objects against humans are variants of a common and ancient Native American myth, and it is argued that a number of art works from the Moche culture of the Peruvian north coast depict a variant of this myth. The “Revolt of the Objects” theme is part of a narrative sequence representing an important epic of the late Moche culture that is linked to other Moche art, larger symbolic concepts, and sociopolitical events. Now that simple diffusionistic explanations are no longer applicable, the occurrence of similar themes in myths and art throughout the Americas is a subject that should be reexamined.

Se demuestra que el mito de “La Revuelta de los Objetos,” conocido de fuentes etnohistóricos del Perú colonial (Urioste 1983), también se conocía por los moches prehistóricos y se representaba en su arte, como sugerido primero por Krickeberg (1928). El mito no es representado sólo en la pintura mural de la Huaca de la Luna y sobre una botella cerámica, sino también en más detalles sobre otra botella y en escenas abreviadas.

Lyon (1981, 1987) ha argüido que los detalles de tal arte no corresponden a los del mito. Sin embargo, se demuestra que los conceptos básicos de las leyendas orales se contienen en las representaciones antiguas. Estas incluyen el alzamiento de las fuerzas de la noche, representada por la Lechuza y la Mujer, contra el sol, simbolizado por el Dios Rayado, quien termina la revuelta y establece orden en el mundo. También se sugiere que hay conexiones específicas entre el tema de la Revuelta de los Objetos y el tema de la Presentación, y es muy posible que el tema de La Presentación muestre los eventos que siguen la Revuelta de Los Objetos en el ciclo mítico de la cultura moche tardía.

La ocurrencia de historias semejantes de la revolución, especialmente en el Popol Vuh de los mayas, indica que el tema es parte de un mito nativo-americano muy antiguo que se víncula con un concepto más difuso en el mundo de objetos animados. Muchas culturas americanas interpretaban el tema básico de modos distintos, acomodadas a sus propias circunstancias. La sociedad moche tardía dio énfasis a asuntos militaristas debida a la crisis confrontada en las épocas finales de su existencia. Puesto que las teorías de diffusión simples no son aplicables, actualmente, los sujetos de la cultura y la mitología pan-americana merecen consideraciones y estudios nuevos.

Type
Articles
Information
Latin American Antiquity , Volume 1 , Issue 1 , March 1990 , pp. 42 - 65
Copyright
Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 1990

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