The extraordinary craft and fascinating symbolism of a pre-Incan ceremonial shield

The Moche people lived near the northeastern coast of modern-day Peru for much of the 1st millennium CE, several centuries before the Inca Empire began to dominate the region. This short from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City reconstructs a ceremonial Moche shield adorned with a predatory owl that was made sometime between the 6th and 9th centuries CE. The video uses animation to transform the remarkable object from its degraded modern state to the golden shine its gilded copper would have possessed shortly after it was created. In addition to showcasing the incredible metalsmithing skills of the Moche craftspeople, it offers a brief yet revealing glimpse into the age-old roles of symbolism and ritual in warfare.