Christopher B. Donnan's Books

Ancient Burial Patterns of the Moche Valley, Peru

By: Christopher B. Donnan,Carol J. Mackey

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Ancient Burial Patterns of the Moche Valley, Peru

By: Christopher B. Donnan,Carol J. Mackey

Archaeologists working in the Moche Valley of Peru have uncovered a number of tombs representing various cultures that flourished there prior to European contact. This book provides a full description of 103 such burials, spanning a period of more than 3,500 years. Each burial is documented with an accurate illustration of every artifact found, as well as details on the location, matrix, and construction of the graves, the individuals in the graves, and the placement of all the associated goods. This information constitutes an important resource for solving problems of ceramic chronology and style change. Age and sex data given for the burials will also enable scholars to establish status differences that existed in the pre-Columbian past. Finally, the authors have compared their sample with all the north coast burials previously reported, showing how their findings may be used to ascertain similarities and differences throughout the highland Andean region. Ancient Burial Patterns of the Moche Valley, Peru is the first diachronic study of burial practices for any Andean region. It not only demonstrates changes in funerary practices in the area but also provides insight into the nature of local cultural development. It will be useful to specialists in Andean and New World archaeology as well as to collectors of pre-Columbian art.

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Page Count

425

Publisher

University of Texas Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0292762445

ISBN 13

9780292762442

Moche Fineline Painting From San Jose De Moro

By: Christopher B. Donnan,Donald McClelland,Donna McClelland

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Moche Fineline Painting From San Jose De Moro

By: Christopher B. Donnan,Donald McClelland,Donna McClelland

Moche civilization flourished on the north coast of Peru from AD 200 to 800. Although the Moche had no writing system, they left a vivid artistic record of their beliefs and activities on intricately painted ceramic vessels, several thousand of which are scattered in museums and private collections throughout the world today. Unfortunately, nearly all were looted by grave robbers so their origin and context are unknown. In recent years, however, through a combination of archaeological excavation and stylistic analysis, it has been possible to identify more than 250 painted vessels from the site of San Jose de Moro. To date, this is the largest sample of Moche art from a single place and time. Thus it provides a unique opportunity to identify a distinct sub-style of Moche ceramics, and to assess its range of artistic and technological variation. Moreover, within the sample it is possible to identify multiple paintings by 18 different artists, thus elucidating the range of subject matter that an artist would paint, as well as the variation in the way he would portray the same scene. By discussing and illustrating more than 200 painted vessels from San Jose de Moro, this volume provides insights about a community of ancient Peruvian potters who shared a distinctive painting style and left a fascinating record of their achievement.

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Page Count

208

Publisher

Cotsen Institute of Archaeology Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

1950446026

ISBN 13

9781950446025

La Mina

A Royal Moche Tomb

By: Christopher B. Donnan

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La Mina

A Royal Moche Tomb

By: Christopher B. Donnan

La Mina: A Royal Moche Tomb focuses on La Mina, an extraordinarily rich tomb that was looted on the north coast of Peru in 1987. The ceramic and metal objects it contained were among the most extraordinary ever produced in the Andean area, and it had the most colorfully decorated pre-Columbian burial chamber ever found in the Americas. The artifacts are now scattered throughout the world, nearly all of them held in private collections. In this work Donnan reveals how he was able to locate and document many of the tomb's contents and determine how the tomb was constructed and embellished. With more than two hundred color images of the archaeological treasures unearthed at La Mina--remarkable works in ceramic and metal that are among the greatest masterpieces of art from the ancient world--students and scholars will welcome the mystery of how careful archaeological sleuthing can piece together valuable information to recover what seemed to be unrecoverable.

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Page Count

168

Publisher

University of New Mexico Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0826363490

ISBN 13

9780826363497

Moche Tombs at Dos Cabezas

By: Christopher B. Donnan

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Moche Tombs at Dos Cabezas

By: Christopher B. Donnan

Moche civilization flourished on the north coast of Peru between approximately AD 100 and 800. Although the Moche had no writing system, they left a vivid artistic record of their beliefs and activities in beautifully modeled and painted ceramic vessels, remarkable objects of gold, silver, and copper, sumptuous textiles, and carved and inlaid bone, wood, and stone. Tens of thousands of these objects can be seen today in museums and private collections throughout the world. Unfortunately, nearly all of them have been looted from Moche tombs by grave robbers, and thus there is no record of the grave, or the archaeological site, or even the valley from which they came. This lack of information severely limits what could have been learned about the Moche if the graves had been excavated archaeologically and their contents systematically recorded. This study focuses on five extraordinary Moche tombs that were archaeologically excavated at the site of Dos Cabezas. The tombs are remarkable not only for the wealth of objects they contained but also because we know how the tombs were constructed, how they relate to one another both spatially and temporally, and what individuals they contained. The tombs provide an unusual opportunity to understand aspects of Moche funerary practice that are lost when tombs are looted, and to appreciate the extraordinary artistic and technological sophistication of this ancient Peruvian civilization.

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Page Count

257

Publisher

Cotsen Institute of Archaeology Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

1950446042

ISBN 13

9781950446049

Chotuna and Chornancap

Excavating an Ancient Peruvian Legend

By: Christopher B. Donnan

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Chotuna and Chornancap

Excavating an Ancient Peruvian Legend

By: Christopher B. Donnan

Christopher Donnan's Chotuna and Chornancap: Excavating an Ancient Peruvian Legend, explores one of the most intriguing oral histories passed down among ancient Peruvians: the legend of Naymlap, the founder of a dynasty that ruled the Lambayeque Valley of northern Peru centuries before European contact. Naymlap is said to have built his palace at a place that many now consider to be the archaeological sites of Chotuna and Chornancap. In an effort to test the validity of the Naymlap legend, Donnan directed extensive archaeological excavations at Chotuna and Chornancap--completing plans of the monumental architecture, mapping and excavating most of the major structures, and developing a chronology for the sites. This book presents the results of these excavations and demonstrates the extent to which the archaeological evidence correlates with the sequence of events described in the Naymlap legend.

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Page Count

285

Publisher

Cotsen Institute of Archaeology Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

193877017X

ISBN 13

9781938770173

Moche Portraits from Ancient Peru

By: Christopher B. Donnan

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Moche Portraits from Ancient Peru

By: Christopher B. Donnan

This is the largest collection of Moche portraits that has ever been published. As one of the most remarkable groups of portraits produced by any ancient people, it will be of interest to all connoisseurs and scholars of the world's great art traditions, as well as to students of the Moche and prehistoric Andean peoples."--BOOK JACKET.

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