There are ten examples of disk ornaments attributed to Loma Negra in The Metro­politan Museum of Art (figs. 3, 7-10, 12-13). Other examples can be found in the American Museum of Natural History in New York and additional disks have been documented in the Loma Negra Archive. This type of ornament is thus far unique to the Piura Valley. The disks in the Metropolitan Museum vary greatly in size, from 15.5 to 31.0 cm. All have one or more holes for suspension or attachment. The function of the disks is not known, though they have been described as pectorals (Tones, 1993) or heraldic devices (Schaffer, 1985, p. 100, n. 4).

Figure 6: Nose ornament, gold and silver, Moche, from Loma Negra. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Michael Rockefeller Collection, Bequest of Nelson A. Rockefeller, 1979 (1979.206.1230).

In spatial organization the disks, like many other types of gilded and silvered copper sheet objects from Loma Negra, range in complexity from a single sheet articulated with scored linear decoration and/or |ajouré work, to constructions involving layered elements within a shallow three-dimensional space. Two gilded copper disks (1987.394.34 & 1987.394.112), measuring 21.5 cm and 30.3 cm in diameter, display a similar |ajouré repetitive pattern representing deer (Hg. 7). A third gilded copper disk (1987.394.129) (diam­eter 27.2 cm) presents a simple radial design traced anta its surface. All three disks are embellished with dangles suspended from flat wires. These small, usually circular, attachments are characteristic of Moche metalwork.