SICÁN-LAMBAYEQUE culture North coast 750 – 1375 AD
Mask 900–1100 AD gold, silver, copper, cinnabar , annealing, surface depletion, painting30.0 (h) x 43.0 (w) cm National Gallery of Australia, Canberra NGA 1980.2694 Purchased 1980
Members of the Sicán elite were buried with masks attached to their mummy bundles as a substitute for the face of the deceased. Additional masks, possibly worn by attendants in the afterlife, were placed within the tomb. Artificial arms and hands were laid around the body, positioned to look as though they held decorated gold beakers. The cups were stacked in columns and put in the four corners of burial chambers. As many as 200 cups have been found in one tomb.
Members of the Sicán elite were buried with masks attached to their mummy bundles as a substitute for the face of the deceased. Additional masks, possibly worn by attendants in the afterlife, were placed within the tomb. Artificial arms and hands were laid around the body, positioned to look as though they held decorated gold beakers. The cups were stacked in columns and put in the four corners of burial chambers. As many as 200 cups have been found in one tomb.
Members of the Sicán elite were buried with masks attached to their mummy bundles as a substitute for the face of the deceased. Additional masks, possibly worn by attendants in the afterlife, were placed within the tomb. Artificial arms and hands were laid around the body, positioned to look as though they held decorated gold beakers. The cups were stacked in columns and put in the four corners of burial chambers. As many as 200 cups have been found in one tomb.
