Initialed book notices were written by Wilber Chaffee, Terence Grieder, Andrew McDonald, Thomas Philpott, Richard N. Sinkin, Edward Steinhart, and Lucia Uhl, all of the University of Texas, Austin.
Elizabeth Benson’s approach to the Mochica is based on an examination of their art for its social information. Chapters on the geography and related cultures, religion, warriors and messengers, livelihood, architects and artisans, death and sexual themes give a brief survey of the culture as currently known. The work is a popular survey rather than new research. It has a fair bibliography and no notes.
This is the first general report to concentrate on the Mochica since Larco’s (1941) and is rivalled only by Sawyer’s Ancient Peruvian Ceramics (1966). Its value is greatly enhanced by the 137 illustrations and seven color plates.
