Moche Copper Mask

The Moche Copper Mask is an archaeological artifact produced by the Moche civilization, which flourished along the northern coast of present-day Peru between approximately 100 and 800 CE. These ceremonial masks were crafted by highly skilled Moche metalworkers using advanced cold-hammering and annealing techniques, often featuring stylized human or deity faces with inlaid shell, stone, or precious materials. They served ritual and funerary purposes, placed over the faces of elite individuals or used in ceremonial contexts tied to Moche religious iconography.