Non-reproductive sex
Room 4, Vitrine 29
• In these scenes featuring anal penetration, lying face down the woman’s role is less active. In some cases, she is depicted as larger than the man, in what may be an allusion to her rank. Here we see the men wearing turbans and the women adorned with necklaces and face paint, indicating their high social status.
• The association of this non-reproductive sexual practice with the underworld is expressed in the participation of individuals with mutilated faces, possibly intended to represent the dead.
• The pottery makers of ancient Peru incorporated the scene depicting the man penetrating the woman into the main body of the vessel and the positions of the handle and spout. In most cases, it appears that the artist intended to connect the act of penetration with the flow of liquid within the vessel.
• Moche culture, Florescent Epoch (1 AD – 800 AD), ML004222, ML004235, ML004253, ML004279.
• Lambayeque culture, Fusion Epoch (800 AD – 1300 AD), ML004403.
• Chimú and Chimú-Inca culture, Imperial Epoch (1300 AD – 1532 AD), ML004403, ML004406.
ML004253