Birds among the Moche of northern Peru: Examining food, environment, and ritual through avian taxa from Huaca Colorada (600–900 CE)

Abstract

Relatively little attention has been paid to the importance of birds as alternative food sources and as ceremonial offerings in Moche practices. I examine bird remains from the Late Moche (600–900 CE) site of Huaca Colorada of the Jequetepeque Valley, Peru, to investigate the role of birds in daily activities and their use in ritual events. The Moche used birds in diverse ways in both domestic and ceremonial activities. Beginning with their use as food source, this analysis addresses the active hunting and opportunistic collection of various avian taxa to establish some of the ways that these animals formed part of subsistence practices. I further consider the way birds can serve as environmental proxies. I examine the presence of marine birds and possible nonlocal species at Huaca Colorada for their use in ceremonial practice. Zooarchaeological and iconographic evidence attests to various predatory bird taxa as important liminal beings for bridging different ecological zones and as vehicles for the travel of spirits and other supernatural forces between spheres of the living and the dead. By investigating birds in Moche practices, this article contributes new insights on the way avian species formed part of feasting events and mortuary offerings and more fully connects iconographic and zooarchaeological records.