MOCHE 2 -- THE LADY OF CAO (a woman rules!):

This site, about 30 miles from Trujillo and called "El Brujo," was especially exciting because it turned out the tomb was that of a female, someone about 25 years old and someone who was a priest, a shaman, or a very influential governing person, given the artifacts found in her tomb.  Cool!  This discovery was made in 2007 and, at the time, the findings were likened to that of King Tut (the artifacts from the tombs of the Lords of Sipan have overshadowed the Lady of Cao tomb, however, but both sites and museums are amazing).  

the entrance

The view of the museum itself from the back as one leaves the excavation site 

The site itself contains 4 different sections, and the most-excavated place is called huaca cao viejo.  The overall name, El Brujo, is translated as "the witch doctor" because shamanic healing rituals were performed here for hundreds of years, and actually, they still are being performed.  The night before we arrived, a large group of Germans were there performing a ceremony, so we got to see the remnants of the ceremony because they had not taken down the stuff (the ceremony apparently concluded at 4 am).  

Imagine sitting on a couple of the posts, with candles glowing all around (there were dozens of them), on a clear and warm Peruvian night.  The thought of it is enough to cure one of whatever. . . . 

Not sure who/what this is, but it's apparently a necessary part of the ceremony. 

This is apparently the sacrifice platform -- used in the past for llamas, etc. (not people)

The ritual offering area.

 The Lady of Cao died around 400 AD, and the mummy seems to indicate that  she died in childbirth or shortly thereafter around 25 years of age. What is particularly amazing is that her forearms, ankles and fingers were tattooed with symbolic images of a spider, nocturnal animals and a serpent, all indications that she was a healer as well as the governing leader.

This is a representation of what this 25-year-old governing woman looked like, based on the mummy and on the artifacts which one can see in the museum (no pics allowed in the museo though).

Her tomb was below the wooden pieces, down several feet.

and in these squares were tombs of people sacrificed with her.  Julie noted that the male rulers who died always had their main wife and concubines sacrificed with them.  However, no male ruler husband was with her.  hmmmm  

This 6-minute video link shows the process of finding the mummy, moving it, and unraveling its contents:  http://www.go2peru.com/tru_brujo.htm (scroll down to the video).  What an exciting time!

Along with the mummy itself, there is also an array of pottery, gold necklaces, and other artifacts, as well as a ceremonial site which has some of the same wall pictographics as found in Huaca de la Lune, reinforcing the hypothesis that this culture was widespread and prominent. 

The graphic representation of how the site looked in 400 AD.

The various platforms tell the same story of the ritual warrior battles as we saw at Huaca de la Luna, and here is the platform with the warrior/prisoners tied together and walking up the ramp.  The basic difference is that these prisoners are larger and more lifelike.

Well, there is another difference.  Look carefully at these nude prisoners.  You may note that each of them has a rather pronounced erection, apparently occuring because of the drug they were given which stunted their mental sensibilities
but not . . . .

Here we have the platform with everyone dancing, again larger figures. 

A close-up of the dancer.  You will note that these dancers also had golden headdresses.

This is a wall of myth, also similar to the one at Huaca de la Luna -- not quite in such great shape though.  

And here we have the decapitator god depicted as a crab.  You can see the knife in his right hand.  The head, which would be in his left hand, is worn away.  

Notice the interlocking mud bricks which help create the solidness of the structure.  They also used columns of mud bricks here to guard against collapse when the earthquakes come. 

And, just as at Huaca de la Luna, archeological excavation continues here. 

More archeological excavation.

As the excavators dig, they also make mud bricks used to fortify the walls and to recreate the huacas.  

And if one takes a walk, one will find the ground littered with bits of ancient textiles (left arrow), shards of pottery (middle arrow), and bones (right arrow).

Julie & Harold are taking a break.  Join us tomorrow when we post a blog on the incomparable site of the Lords of Sipan. 

 And we will leave you with a poem, an ode written to the Lady of Cao:

An Ode to the Lady of Cao of Peru

By Dennis Siluk Ed.D.

The sun no longer strikes down on me
How close I was to life, how hard life was
How false ones gaiety can be.

Lonely at times:
Not in the soul
But in the sky of the mind!
My whole horizon ringed
With the morning birds;
I had a collection of things and people.
I have been a Queen, ruled the village of Cao
That was my love you see
Yet I did not live long--, twenty-five years is all.
Queen-chief they called me--,
My body tattooed to show such;
Bound in ceremonial wrappings...
Like a cocoon (a mummy)
Hence,
I was found in such garb.
Sorry to say, but I will:
I died from childbirth--
Buried in Trujillo--a thousand years ago!.
When I died..., then awake
It was like daybreak--I seemed to have
Had a sad feeling upon arrival.
Now harshly, all the sounds and voices
Of one moment to the next
Is simply fleeting.
Yet, up there I will never be again:
Still I hear my child's voice
From time to time..!

See Dennis' web site: http://dennissiluk.tripod.com/

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