Ceramic representations of facial paralysis in ancient Peru.

OBJECTIVE

To provide interested scholars with a historical perspective of facial paralysis as interpreted by the ceramists of the ancient Moche culture.

METHODS

The authorities and curators of the Museo Arqueológico Rafael Larco Herrera, and the Museo Nacional de Arqueología, Antropología e Historia del Perú, in Lima, Perú, provided photographs of some of the more salient examples of facial paralysis in their Moche ceramic collections. Four of these were selected for inclusion in this article.

CONCLUSION

Moche pathologic portraits establish a unique point of reference in the history of facial paralysis and its sequelae. They stand alone as a prehistoric record of this disorder, unsurpassed until the appearance of Bell's work and illustrations.