Analysis of the artifacts recovered with the Lord of Sipan led researchers to securely identify this individual as dressed in the regalia of the Warrior Priest, Figure A in the Sacrifice Ceremony. Artifacts buried with el Senor that appear with the Warrior Priest include a conical helmet, a large crescent-shaped headdress, large circular ear ornaments, large bracelets, a large crescent shaped nose ornament, cones hanging from the fringe of a garment, and finally, a gold and silver scepter gripped in his right hand. The scepter is a trapezoidal box-like chamber of sheet gold, and it is identical to one seen in some illustrations of the Warrior Priest. Among the more mundane grave goods was a ceramic bottle in the shape of the companion dog seen often accompanying the Warrior Priest.
Sources
Alva, Walter. 2001 The Royal tombs of Sipán: Art and Power in Moche Society. pp. 223-245 in Pillsbury, Joanne (ed), Moche Art and Archaeology in Ancient Peru. Yale University Press, New Haven.
Alva, Walter and Christopher B. Donnan. 1993. Royal Tombs of Sipan. Fowler Museum of Cultural History, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles.
