Only three and three-quarters inches in 

 diameter, one of the warrior priest's ear 

 ornaments portrays a warrior complete 

 with a war club, shield, headdress with its 

 crescent-shaped decoration, and ear 

 ornaments of his own. 



Susan Einstein 



A design from a Moche ceramic bottle 

 depicts the Moche sacrifice ceremony. 

 The conical helmet with a crescent- 

 shaped ornament on one of the larger 

 figures (left) helps identify him as a 

 warrior priest. He holds a goblet of blood 

 taken from sacrificed prisoners, who are 

 shown beneath having their throats cut. 



Donna McCleliand 



they vary, not always depicting all person- 

 ages in the ceremony, apparently three 

 principal priests and one priestess were in- 

 volved, each associated with specific gar- 

 ments and ritual paraphemaha. The most 

 important was the "wamor priest," gener- 

 ally depicted with a crescent-shaped nose 

 ornament, large circular ear ornaments, a 

 warrior backflap, a scepter, and a conical 

 helmet with a crescent-shaped ornament at 

 its peak. A comparison of these and other 

 details with the contents of the tomb con- 

 vinced us that the individual buried there 

 was just such a warrior priest. 



When the sacrifice ceremony was first 

 identified in Moche art, in 1974, no one 

 could be sure it was a real practice, as op- 

 posed to a mythical event. Now we had 

 archeological evidence that this was an ac- 

 tual part of Moche life. Here was one of 

 the individuals who presided over the sac- 

 rifices. Further, because the limited num- 

 ber of objects salvaged from the looted 

 tomb were similar to some of those we had 

 excavated, we could conclude that the 

 looted tomb also must have belonged to a 

 warrior priest. 



As if this were not enough, during the 

 excavation of the warrior priest's tomb, we 

 located another suspected tomb elsewhere 

 on the pyramid. We held off excavation 

 until work on the earlier find was nearly 

 complete. The knowledge we gained 

 made it easier to anticipate the sequence of 

 excavation. Again we found the residue of 

 a plank coffin containing the rich burial of 

 a man between thirty-five and forty-five 

 years old. Among his grave goods was a 

 spectacular headdress ornament of gilded 



copper, in the form of the head and body 

 of an owl from which arched long bands 

 with suspended bangles, representing the 

 feathered wings. Nearby we found the re- 

 mains of four other individuals: a male be- 

 tween fourteen and seventeen years of 

 age, two females in their late teens or early 

 twenties, and an eight- to ten-year-old 

 child. Buried with the child were a dog 

 and a snake. 



The contents of this tomb were only a 

 little less lavish than those of the warrior 

 priest. They suggest that the principal indi- 

 vidual was another of the priests depicted 

 in the sacrifice ceremony — one we call the 

 "bird priest." The major clue was the large 

 owl headdress. He was also buried with a 

 copper cup near his right hand, similar in 

 proportion to the cups portrayed in pic- 

 tures of the sacrifice ceremony. 



Having identified these individuals as 

 participants in the sacrifice ceremony, we 

 began to wonder if such ceremonies took 

 place in Sipan itself. The answer was soon 

 revealed when, about eleven yards fi"om 

 the bird priest's tomb, we found several 

 small rooms that contained hundreds of 

 ceramic vessels, human and llama bones, 

 and miniature ornaments and implements, 

 mixed with ash and organic residues. 

 Among the human remains were hands 

 and feet, quite possibly the trophies taken 

 from dismembered sacrificial victims. Al- 

 together these looked to be the residue of 

 sacrifice ceremonies, which the Moche ap- 

 parently carried out at Sipan, as no doubt 

 they did at their other centers. 



The looted tomb, the two excavated 

 tombs, and the sacrificial offerings all 



33 



