Moche culture

The Moche civilization flourished in northern Peru from about 100 to 800 AD. They lived during a time known as the Regional Development Epoch. The main city of one Moche group was close to what is now called Moche, Trujillo.

Many experts think the Moche people were not one big country or state. Instead, they were likely many smaller groups that shared the same culture. We can see this in the beautiful pictures they made and the huge buildings they built that are still standing today. Their culture is very interesting because of these amazing creations.

Background

The Moche society was based on farming and built many canals to bring river water to their crops. Their artifacts show scenes from daily life, including hunting, fishing, and ceremonies. They were known for their beautifully painted ceramics, gold work, big buildings called (huacas), and irrigation systems.

Moche history has three main periods: early (100–300 AD), middle (300–600 AD), and late (500–800 AD). The area they lived in stretched along the coast of Peru, covering many valleys such as La Libertad, Lambayeque, Jequetepeque, Chicama, Moche, Virú, Chao, Santa, and Nepena. One of their biggest buildings was the Huaca del Sol, a large pyramid made of adobe bricks. Nearby, the Huaca de la Luna has colorful wall paintings that are still being studied by archaeological experts.

Southern and Northern Moche

Two different parts of the Moche civilization have been found, called the Southern and Northern Moche. Each area might have been its own little country. In the past, people thought the Moche were all one big group, but studying their pottery showed they were two separate places. This idea was started by Rafael Larco Hoyle, who helped us learn about the Moche.

The Southern Moche area, thought to be where the culture began, included the Chicama and Moche valleys. A big site there, Huaca del Sol-Huaca de la Luna, was likely the capital. It has a large wall painting of warriors and prisoners that changes direction when it reaches a special building called "recinto 1". This building sat on a raised platform and was very fancy.

The Northern Moche area included three valley systems: the upper Piura Valley near the Vicús culture, the lower Lambayeque Valley with three rivers (La Leche, Reque, and Zaña), and the lower Jequetepeque Valley. The Piura Valley was only part of the Moche for a short time before becoming independent.

These Moche centers seem to have developed in their own ways, each with their own leaders. Sometimes, they might have been controlled together, but this didn’t happen often.

Pampa Grande, in the Lambayeque Valley, became one of the biggest Moche sites, covering more than 400 hectares. It was important during the Moche V period (600–700 AD) and had many Moche V ceramics. The site was built quickly and includes a huge ceremonial area with Huaca Fortaleza, the tallest ceremonial platform in Peru.

San Jose de Moro is another northern site in the Jequetepeque valley. It was important from 400 to 850 AD. Many Moche tombs have been found here, including some with important women called the Priestess. There are three types of tombs: boot-shaped, chamber tombs, and simple graves. Chamber tombs were for special people, like priestesses, and sometimes held many people.

Differences between the Northern Mochicas and the Southern Mochicas

The best known differences are:

Material culture

Ceramics

Moche pottery is some of the most varied in the world. It is known for being highly decorated and standardized, which led people to believe the Moche had been part of a larger organized system. The use of mold technology is evident, which would have enabled the mass production of certain forms. Moche ceramics vary widely in shape and theme, with most important social activities documented in pottery, including war, agriculture, metalwork, weaving, and more. The pottery often includes portraits of actual individuals and scenes of daily life.

The coloration of Moche pottery is often simple, with yellowish cream and rich red used almost exclusively on elite pieces. White and black are rarely used. The Moche are known for their portraiture pottery. The pottery portraits created by the Moche appear to represent actual individuals, including some with physical differences. The realistic detail in Moche ceramics may have helped them serve as models for passing down knowledge between generations.

Textiles

Extreme weather and the fragility of garments mean that relatively few examples of Moche textiles exist. However, limited quantities have been found in tombs, especially of higher-status members of society. Many of the remaining garments are incomplete, but scholars have been able to gain cultural insights from the remaining Moche textiles. The Moche wove textiles, mostly using cotton and wool from vicuña and alpaca. Variation in garments likely correlates with different social classes. Sophisticated weaving techniques and bright dyes are more common on elites' clothing, whereas commoners may have had garments that were less sophisticated and lacked dye—and they likely had fewer of them. Complex tapestries developed by artisans are another good associated with high social hierarchy. Several specific items also correlate to gender in Moche culture. Descendants of Moche people today continue to have strong weaving traditions.

Metalwork

The Moche discovered techniques to cover copper crafts in thin layers of gold or silver. Modern attempts were able to recreate a similar chemical plating process using boiling water and salts found naturally in the area. Moche metalwork gained attention after Peruvian researcher Rafael Larco Hoyle published Los Mochicas in 1945. The discovery of bronze and gold artifacts buried in the Warrior Priest tomb at the Huaca de la Cruz site encouraged further study. An important discovery in the context of Moche metallurgy was the discovery of the Tombs of Sipán in 1986. These burials included a wealth of metal objects unparalleled with any previous discovery.

Moche techniques in metalworking have proved to be an intriguing area of research. Their techniques were likely some of the most advanced in the world during the time of the Moche. Craftspeople perfected a wide variety of metalworking techniques. The skill required to create these objects is perhaps some of the finest the world has ever known. Several examples of the molds used to shape the low relief sculptures have been discovered, most are made of a solid metal alloy but wood molds were also used. Researchers proved how delicate this process of shaping is when they used a cast of one of the copper alloy molds to recreate the process.

Agricultural engineering

Researchers of the Moche culture agree that the emergence of the Moche culture is related to the intensification of the production of corn, cotton, beans and squash, among other agricultural products, which allowed the development of a regional Moche political economy in the Valley of Moche from the north coast of Peru during the Early Intermediate Period (400 BC–600 AD).

The northern region of Peru is one of the most arid areas in the world, where there is no rain throughout the year. That factor, far from discouraging the establishment of communities, was the trigger for the construction of an outstanding culture that developed engineering works that interconnected various river valleys, with the aim of irrigating desert territories.

Many of the Moche agricultural systems are still in operation, such as the Ascope aqueduct, the La Cumbre Canal, in Chicama, or the San Jose dam, which continue to provide water, coming from the Andean region and groundwater, guaranteeing several harvests per year.

Access to new farmland, gained from the desert, was the starting point of a civilization that, based on abundant harvests, became socially stratified. All this allowed certain members of the community to no longer dedicate themselves exclusively to food production, and a process of specialization began that led to the development of the Moche civilization.

Gallery

[Moche portrait vessel](/wiki/Moche_portrait_vessel),  

[Musée du quai Branly](/wiki/Musée_du_quai_Branly), Paris

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Resting [deer](/wiki/Odocoileus_virginianus),  
[Larco Museum Collection](/wiki/Larco_Museum), Lima

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Alpaca wool tapestry (600–900 AD), Lombards Museum

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Earplugs of gold inlaid with precious stones

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Moche warrior pot, [British Museum](/wiki/British_Museum), London

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Crescent-shaped ornament with [bat](/wiki/Bat), CE 1–300 [Brooklyn Museum](/wiki/Brooklyn_Museum), Brooklyn

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Copper alloy mask with shell, CE 1–600 [Walters Art Museum](/wiki/Walters_Art_Museum), Baltimore

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  Copper knife with removable figural handle, 50–800 AD Walters Art Museum, Baltimore

Moche headdress with feline ornamentations, 400 AD [Larco Museum](/wiki/Larco_Museum), Lima

Gold Moche necklace with feline faces, Larco Museum, Lima

Gold Moche whistle with turquoise depicting a warrior, 1–800 AD Larco Museum, Lima

Bronze and shell Moche mask depicting the hero [Ai Apaec](/wiki/Ai_Apaec)

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  Copper ceremonial knife (Tumi), 3rd – 7th century AD, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City

A ceramic depicting a [spider](/wiki/Spider) from around 300 [CE](/wiki/Common_Era)

A ceramic depicting potatoes

Ceramic depicting a [sea lion](/wiki/South_American_sea_lion) pup

Burial Mask

Gold headdress ornament

Ceramic depicting a bat

Sculpture depicting a seated man or deity

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  Foot

Religion

The Moche people had strong religious beliefs, and some of their rituals included special ceremonies where leaders took part in important events. These ceremonies might have included acts that showed power and strength, such as holding special knives called tumi.

Scholars have different ideas about who these special people were. Some think they were part of games between leaders, while others believe they were from battles with nearby groups.

The Moche told stories about powerful figures, like a creature that could be a spider, a winged animal, or a sea monster. This creature was shown holding a knife in one hand and a head in the other, and it was an important part of their beliefs about these ceremonies.

Social stratification

The Moche society was divided into different social classes. There were royalty and then general upper and lower classes, with each class having smaller groups inside them. Moving up within a class was possible, but switching between classes was harder.

The elite class, which included priests and priestesses, likely used religion and ceremonies to keep their power. They may have also used other ways to stay in charge, and sometimes had to fight to keep their position. Burials from the Moche show clear differences in social status. People with lower status were buried simply, while those with high status were buried with many valuable goods like copper masks, silver, pottery, and gold. The more valuable items buried with a person, the higher their status seems to have been.

Collapse

There are many ideas about why the Moche political system ended. Some experts think that changes in the weather played a big role. Studies of ice from glaciers in the Andes show big climate events between 563 and 594 AD, perhaps a very strong El Niño. This brought 30 years of heavy rain and flooding, followed by 30 years of drought. These changes happened after the climate changes of 535–536. Such weather could have upset the Moche way of life, their leadership, and their beliefs. This strong El Niño might have made it hard for the Moche to grow food. Their farming depended on canals that used water from the Andes mountains, and a long drought could have damaged this system. Some experts also think that movements in the earth's surface added pressure on these water systems.

But other signs show that these events did not fully end the Moche way of life. Moche groups kept living past 650 AD in places like the Jequetepeque Valley and the Moche Valleys. For example, later settlements in the Jequetepeque Valley had walls and defenses built to protect them. Even though there is no proof that a foreign army, like from Huari, attacked, these defenses hint that there may have been trouble in society, perhaps because of the changing climate, as different groups competed for limited resources.

Links with other cultures

The Moche was an Early Intermediate Period culture. It came after the Chavín horizon and the Cupisnique, and was later followed by the Huari and Chimú. The Moche lived at the same time as the Ica-Nazca culture to the south. Scholars think they may have traded with others and used guano for fertilizer. Moche pottery has been found near Ica, but Ica-Nazca pottery has not been found in Moche areas.

The Moche also lived alongside the Recuay culture in the highlands. Some designs from Recuay can be seen in Moche art. The Moche also had contact with the nearby Virú culture. By 700 CE, the Moche had control over the Virú area.

Archaeological discoveries

In 1899 and 1900, Max Uhle was the first archaeologist to dig at a Moche site called Huaca de la Luna, which is where the famous Pyramids of Moche are found in the Moche Valley. The name of the Moche culture comes from this place.

In 1938 and 1939, Rafael Larco Hoyle dug at Moche sites and helped people understand how advanced Moche society was. He talked about their beautiful art and big public buildings.

One of the most important projects for studying Moche culture was the Virú Valley Project, starting in 1946 and led by Willian Duncan Strong and Wendell C. Bennett. Their work showed an older style of pottery called Gallinazo that suddenly stopped being used.

In 1987, archaeologists found the first fully intact Moche tomb at Sipán in northern Peru. Inside, they found the remains of a very important man called the Lord of Sipán, along with other people, animals, and many valuable items made of gold and silver. Since then, thirteen more tombs have been found there.

In 2005, another important find was made. Archaeologists discovered a very well-preserved Moche woman known as the Lady of Cao at Huaca Cao Viejo, near present-day Trujillo, Peru. Her tomb was beautifully decorated and had not been touched since around 450 AD. Inside were items like weapons and decorations. The tomb also held the remains of a teenage girl who may have been a helper.

In 2005, a special gold mask thought to show a sea god was found in London by the Metropolitan Police. Experts think it was taken from a Moche tomb in the late 1980s and was returned to Peru in 2006.

In 2013, archaeologists found the eighth in a series of important female skeletons, adding to the idea that Moche society was ruled by a line of priestesses-queens. This discovery was made at the site of San José de Moro, near the town of Chepen, in the Sechura Desert of the Jequetepeque Valley, in La Libertad Region, Peru.

The error of the term "Mochica culture"

Some historians think that calling the Moche people the "Mochica culture" is not correct. They say this name should only be used for the Lambayeque culture. Using the right name helps us understand history better.

One historian said:
"Calling the makers of the famous huacos-portraits the Mochica culture is as wrong as if we called the builders of Chavín the 'Aymara Culture.'"