Dying to Rule: Sex and Power in Moche Society – 2007
Masturbating Skeletons
The use of red and white colors in the images of masturbating skeletons and their assistants symbolizes both the life-death duality and the transition between these two states. Live women are painted red, while the skeletons, whether men or women, are always depicted in white. Red represents life, the blood of sacrifice and fertility. White is death, the absence of life. The red cape worn by the masturbating skeletal beings is a female dress, thus reinforcing the association of women with death and sacrifice. It also signifies the female assistants, despite their absence in this context. This color symbolism is extended even to the genitals of the skeletal beings, with the extremity of the penis painted red to emphasize that this virile member is the source of vitality and rejuvenation.