Rain of the Moon

Book excerpt: A symbol of power and prestige in ancient Peru, silver also held religious significance, its soft cool sheen symbolising the moon, a female deity. This beautiful book presents objects of silver - items of personal adornment, tomb offerings, and miniatures - from several Peruvian cultures that thrived along the coastal and highland regions of the Andes from the first millennium B.C. to the Spanish conquest of 1532-34. Excavated from the sites of such cultures as the Moche, the Lambayeque, the Chimu, and the Inka, these extremely rare and lovely objects of silver shed new light on a fascinating civilization. This book was published in conjunction with an exhibition held in the fall of 2000 at The Metropolitan Museum of Art