burnished before 昀椀ring, likely with stone or bone polish- engages in lively conversation with an anthropomor- ers. The contrast between the mechanical reproduction phized iguana wearing a bird headdress (昀椀g. 24). The of these bottles and the elaborate nature of the painting 昀椀gure raises his index 昀椀nger to the iguana, who responds style raises the question of whether the potter and the with joined, raised hands, as if in supplication. The pair is painter were the same person. Technical analysis on repeated on the other side of the vessel, although this time archaeologically recovered bottles indicates that they the 昀椀gure has prominent wrinkles, perhaps suggesting the were made using local raw materials; thus, the existence passage of time (see also inside back cover). The iguana of stylistically similar depictions in di昀昀erent valleys could and “Wrinkle Face” (as he has come to be known) are 15 have involved artists traveling between communities. depicted frequently in Moche ceramics, and the scenes Based on an archive built during decades of research, we see on vessels may represent speci昀椀c moments in the 17 archaeologist Christopher Donnan and his colleague complex sagas of culture heroes. These lively characters Donna McClelland have identi昀椀ed dozens of possible remind us that a rich mythology surely once accompanied 16 individual artists or groups of artists. these objects, and that their stories—perhaps linked to an Fineline painting became more complex after 500 oral tradition that may have been part and parcel of the ce and began to incorporate compositions that suggest act of viewing these vessels—were revealed as observers speci昀椀c narratives. On one vessel, a 昀椀gure with prominent slowly turned them in their hands. fangs who is shown wearing a feline headdress, snake It is tempting to see di昀昀erent vessels as represent- earspools, and a snake-headed belt sits on a throne and ing di昀昀erent scenes from a common myth. For example, 24. Stirrup-spout bottle with confronting 昀椀gures (front and back). Moche; North Coast, Peru, 500–800 ce. Ceramic and slip, H. 9 in. (22.9 cm). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; The Michael C. Rockefeller Memorial Collection, Purchase, Nelson A. Rockefeller Gift, 1961 (1978.412.70) 25