Curanderas a la sombra de la Huaca de la Luna

Abstract

This paper presents archaeological information about female healers or curanderas that are represented on Moche ceramics discovered in the archaeological complex of the Huaca del Sol and the Huaca de la Luna. The work of female healers is a little-studied topic in Andean cultural anthropology and the presence of these curanderas in the Moche period demonstrates cultural continuity between the pre-Hispanic past and the present. In this paper, we suggest that the information gathered about the mesa symbolism of these contemporary female healers can help archaeologists and historians who study pre-Hispanic cultures when looking to understand the significance of archaeological contexts or when reconstructing the world-view and ideology of past cultures.

Keywords

• Moche
• Huaca de la Luna
• Ethnoarchaeology
• curanderas