Dying to Rule: Sex and Power in Moche Society – 2007
The flow of bodily fluids
Some Moche vessels take the form of a man with an enormous erect penis, linking the notion of seminal fluid with certain rites of oral copulation. The liquid –probably corn chicha – was poured into the mouth of the vessel, but the many holes around the edge of the opening forced the drinker to drink from the opening in the penis. Other vessels represented women with equally over-proportioned genitalia. In these, the vagina led to a double interior cavity, making the liquid poured in seem to disappear inside the woman’s body. These two contrasting types of libation vessels suggest a relation to agricultural propitiation and illustrate the importance of the flow of bodily fluids in the sex rituals performed after the death of a Moche Ruler.