MOCHE 1 -- HUACA DE LA LUNA (Better than Egypt's Valley of the Kings?):

Is this site better than Egypt's Valley of the Kings?  It's close! 

Moche archeological sites and artifacts have been found in several places in northern Peru, but there are 3 main sites we would like to focus on in the next 3 postings:  

1. Huaca de la Luna, 
2. the Lady of Cao, and 
3. the Lords of Sipan.  

These 3 sites, complete with wall paintings and pottery and tombs, provide an intriguing story of people in Moche (pre-Inca) culture and what they believed about life and death, similar to the stories we have learned about the ancient Egyptians in the Valley of the Kings.  
 

Also, these archeological sites poke big holes in the hypothesis that there wasn’t much “civilization” in the Americas previous to the coming of the Europeans.  The sites reinforce the theory that there were huge, thriving societies here.  

Although archeological sites exist that go back at least 5000 years before Christ, in these 3 postings, we will stick with an exploration of the Moche culture, a culture based in northern Peru from about the time of Christ to the 7^th century.  It has only been in the last 20 years that archeologists have excavated some magnificent Moche sites and have learned much more about this culture, which some originally thought was little more than a blip on the societal map.

This indigenous group was massive in population, largely because their agricultural practices were so accomplished, including impressive and massive irrigation projects still in use today. They also were accomplished at crop raising and seed manipulation.  It appears, from what has been excavated so far, that the individual communities were all organized similarly:  a religious & ceremonial area (generally found in a hill because of the pyramid structure used), a political & administrative area (also a hill area) and a valley in between which consisted of the city itself.

HUACA (temple) DE LA LUNA -- one of the archeological sites: 

These three areas – the administrative/governing area (the largely unexcavated Huaca del Sol), the city itself (excavation just starting), and the Huaca de la Luna (some excavation completed but mostly still in progress) – are all aspects of a complex about 10 miles from Trujillo.  The Huaca de la Luna excavation was started around the 1990s.   The terms “sol” and “luna” are Spanish inventions, however, and there is no evidence of sun and moon worship in this culture.

What did the archeologists find?  Pyramids -- with all the different levels filled in with adobe brick, so the different layers are in good condition, with the relief wall pictorial representations in good shape, including the colors they used.  Each ceremonial court includes a pictorial representation of these aspects:  the battle between two groups of 10 warriors each, the 10 losing warriors being taken prisoner, the sacrifice of these 10 warriors, including the drinking of their blood  – all to appease their god:  Ai Apaec.

This is Cerro Blanco (the white mountain) that was deemed sacred, so Huaca de la Luna was built at the base of the mountain (lower left corner).

The ceremonial/religious center of Huaca de la Luna was constructed with mud bricks.  Each family was required to contribute so many bricks per year to aid in the construction (called the mita tax).  To assure that each family's bricks were counted,  each family had a "brand" which they placed on their completed bricks.  Here is an assortment of original mud bricks with their original brands.

The Moche were not ignorant of earthquakes, and developed a method of wall construction, using the mud bricks, which was almost impervious to earthquakes.  Note the columnar construction, so that the sections could rock individually and not knock down the entire wall.

This is an artist's representation of the entire ceremonial structure (at least what has been found thus far).  The large area is the court where the processions were held and where the people would gather.  At the right, you can see the various levels of the pyramid, with each level colorfully painted with the iconography of their belief system.  In the ceremonial court, you can see a small room in the upper left corner.  This was where the high priest would sit, in an all-white room, gathering the offerings from the people.  

This is a close-up view of the actual painted mud-brick wall, along with the priest's enclosure on the left.  Description of the various levels follows. 

These are the prisoners who, it is believed, were the "losers" in a ritual battle between 20 warriors (10 per side).  These losers became the prisoners, were striped, drugged, and tied together by the neck.  They were led up the ramp where they were sacrificed.  The blood was then drunk by the high priest -- all to assure the continuation of the culture, appeasing their god, Ai Apaec, who is both known as the "creator" god and the decapitator god (because of his role in beheading the prisoners).  See the very bottom picture to see a popular pictorial creation of this creator/decapitator.    

The next platform of paintings includes people dancing during the "celebration." 

Another platform contains geometric designs of the catfish (the black/gold pics) and the main god Ai Apaec, to whom the sacrifices were being made.

A close-up of Ai Apaec.

Another level holds paintings depicting the crab god, again part of the sacred iconography.  Note that the crab is anthropomorphized.

Another wall contains pictures of many of the myths that are a part of the belief system of the Moches.  This is a pictorial drawing providing a clear depiction of the wall, which you can see in its original form below.  If you are really into this stuff, you know what each little picture represents.

The wall as it appears today.  These walls are all in excellent condition because at some point, they were filled in 100% with mud bricks, perhaps when a ruler died and a new one took over, necessitating another pyramid.

They also found significant evidence of huaqueros (tomb raiders), but fortunately these huaqueros didn’t find everything, including some elements left in a tomb. 

See all those pock marks?  They are holes where huaqueros searched for artifacts.

Wait and see what they find at Huaca del Sol and in the community area between the two hills, which they are currently just starting to excavate.  Also, excavation continues at Huaca de la Luna.

Huaca del Sol (remember the name was provided by the Spanish).  It has been badly damaged, but archeologists hope to begin exploration on this administrative and political center soon. 

Exploration begins on the expanse between the administrative/political center (Huaca del Sol) and the religious/ceremonial center (Huaca de la Luna).  This area, the place where the people actually lived, should provide more clues about the life style of the Moche.

Oh -- and lest we forget, there's a good museum at the site, but one can't take pictures inside.  Here's a shot of the outside though.  Both Harold and Julie plan to keep track of this archeological site to see what they are digging up.  Exciting times for Peruvians!

One last rather gruesome item -- a popularized depiction of Ai Apaec.  This one comes from the wall of the entrance to our hotel in Chiclayo.  Here you see the creator/decapitator god with his decapitating knife in his right hand and the head of a warrior in his left hand.    

Come back soon for more about the Moches!