Mochica Bird Runners

Room 12, Vitrine 149

Ceramic, metal
Peruvian Northern Coast
Florescent Epoch (1 AD – 800 AD)
ML002429, ML100073- ML100075, ML100080, ML100081, ML100082, ML100121, ML100122, ML100125, ML100815, ML100914, ML100915.

One of the most frequently recurring themes in Mochica art is the race between human beings or anthropomorphic beings with the features of animals, carrying bags with lima beans and sticks in their hands. In this race the runners participated wearing their finest clothing and elaborate headdresses, one of the most characteristic of which was the circular frontal headdress.

Copper and copper, gold and silver alloy headdresses; gold birds’ beaks; breastplate with Spondylus shell beads; sculptural ceramic representing a bird runner.