Social Differentiation Among the Recuay: An Iconographic Study

Abstract

From the research presented here, it can be concluded that the Recuay culture (AD 200-700) was a stratified society in which the male warrior retained an essential place. Religious life was dominated by the veneration of the petrified ancestors who, based on the analyses of the stone sculptures, were mostly of the male sex. This consequently puts men at the centre of religious celebrations, a situation which is confirmed by the representations of ceremonies on ceramics. Among these men, however, hierarchical differences could be detected. It appears that different types of warriors existed, each with their specific function. Women, on the other hand, seem to have had lower ceremonial statuses, based on the iconographical evidence. The presence of women in ceremonial scenes – both the larger ones wearing more elaborately decorated clothing and the secondary ones – seems to have amplified the significance of fertility in the religious culture of Recuay life.