Fourth D. J. Sibley Family Conference
on World Traditions of Culture and Art

The Department of Art and Art History
The University of Texas at Austin
November 14-16, 2003

The theme of the conference is "The Art, the Arts and the Archaeology of the Moche: an Ancient Andean Society of the Peruvian North Coast."

It is felt appropriate to hold such a meeting because, during the last two decades or so, a number of important discoveries have revolutionized our understanding of the Moche culture (100–800 A.D.).

Both the archaeology and the iconography have really leaped forward with the finding of new elements such as monumental and domestic architecture, polychrome murals, elaborate funerary and sacrificial contexts, workshops, etc.

The combined efforts of field research and iconographic studies have also led to a much more complex, and somewhat puzzling view of this society and its system of representation. For example, a number of identifications have been made between buried individuals and representations of key subjects at sites such as Sípan, San José de Moro, Huaca de la Luna and Huaca de la Cruz. Also, sacrificial contexts found at a number of sites have indicated that these rituals were not just part of the of the imaginary mindscape of the Moche.

Thus this conference represents an opportunity to bring together a number of scholars who have been directly involved in this process and to discuss how both fields – the archaeology and the iconography – have enriched and complemented each other. Other pressing issues and problems such as chronology, cultural identity, the distribution of Moche styles, ecology and  social change will also be explored during this three-day conference.

Sponsored by
The Potts and Sibley Foundation

Under the auspices of the
Center for the History of Ancient American Art and Culture [CHAAAC]