Deer appear frequently in Moche imagery, especially in hunting scenes. Hunting with nets, clubs and spears (used with spear throwers) was a pastime of the elite. Clubs, similar to the weapon held here by the deer, had rounded heads on tapered shafts. Deer, and particularly deer hunting, are so often depicted on Moche vessels that it might be assumed that they played a large part in the Moche diet. Archaeological evidence, however, suggests otherwise. On the fine-line pottery of the Moche, there are strong similarities in the representations of deer hunting and human combat scenes. Moreover, deer are often shown bound like enemy prisoners of war, who were taken back to Moche habitation sites alive to be used in ritual sacrifice. It seems probable that deer were also used for sacrifice, thus performing a similar role to that of captured prisoners in Moche ritual.¹

When deer are shown in anthropomorphic form, as with this pot, they are often wearing the garb of the Moche warrior class. This deer wears a long tunic decorated with circular motifs. The bottom edge is finished with a band of flat colour, similar to the wide red swathe at the collar, although the latter may represent a pectoral plate. A suggestion of the back flap of a loincloth appears behind the right leg. The deer is seated, kneeling with one cloven hoof clearly revealed. Yet his hands are human. His tongue lolls to one side of his mouth, a common feature in all Moche depictions of these particular animals. His antlers indicate that he is male—it is also unlikely that a female deer would be represented as a warrior. The Moche only ever depicted the white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), native to the north coast region.

Simeran Maxwell

1. Christopher B. Donnan, ‘Deer hunting and combat: Parallel activities in the Moche world’, in Kathleen Berrin (ed.), The spirit of ancient Peru: Treasures from the Museo Arqueológico Rafael Larco Herrera, London: Thames and Hudson 1997, p. 58.

Deer appear frequently in Moche imagery, especially in hunting scenes. Hunting with nets, clubs and spears (used with spear throwers) was a pastime of the elite. Clubs, similar to the weapon held here by the deer, had rounded heads on tapered shafts. Deer, and particularly deer hunting, are so often depicted on Moche vessels that it might be assumed that they played a large part in the Moche diet. Archaeological evidence, however, suggests otherwise. On the fine-line pottery of the Moche, there are strong similarities in the representations of deer hunting and human combat scenes. Moreover, deer are often shown bound like enemy prisoners of war, who were taken back to Moche habitation sites alive to be used in ritual sacrifice. It seems probable that deer were also used for sacrifice, thus performing a similar role to that of captured prisoners in Moche ritual.¹

When deer are shown in anthropomorphic form, as with this pot, they are often wearing the garb of the Moche warrior class. This deer wears a long tunic decorated with circular motifs. The bottom edge is finished with a band of flat colour, similar to the wide red swathe at the collar, although the latter may represent a pectoral plate. A suggestion of the back flap of a loincloth appears behind the right leg. The deer is seated, kneeling with one cloven hoof clearly revealed. Yet his hands are human. His tongue lolls to one side of his mouth, a common feature in all Moche depictions of these particular animals. His antlers indicate that he is male—it is also unlikely that a female deer would be represented as a warrior. The Moche only ever depicted the white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), native to the north coast region.

Simeran Maxwell

1. Christopher B. Donnan, ‘Deer hunting and combat: Parallel activities in the Moche world’, in Kathleen Berrin (ed.), The spirit of ancient Peru: Treasures from the Museo Arqueológico Rafael Larco Herrera, London: Thames and Hudson 1997, p. 58.