- Also called:
- Mochica
Moche
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Who were the Moche people?
The Moche were an Andean civilization that thrived from the 1st to the 8th century CE along the northern coast of present-day Peru. Their settlements stretched over 215 miles along the arid coast from the Lambayeque River valley to the Nepeña River valley.
The Moche were talented metalworkers and potters, known for their naturalistic sculpture. They were also intensive farmers, channeling streams from the Andes into irrigation canals to grow crops such as corn and beans, which supported urban centers. The reasons for the Moche civilization's demise are currently unknown, but may have been due to earthquakes, drought, flooding, or other environmental or social factors.
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Where did the Moche civilization live?
The Moche civilization thrived from the 1st to the 8th century CE on the northern coast of what is now Peru. Their settlements stretched along the arid coast of northern Peru from the Lambayeque River valley south for over 215 miles (350 km) to the Nepeña River valley. The Moche people channeled streams from the Andes into irrigation canals, allowing them to grow crops and support urban centers. Political authority was fragmented, with each river valley having its own royalty and warrior-priesthood.
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What kinds of buildings and structures did the Moche create?
The Moche civilization, which thrived in northern Peru from the 1st to the 8th century CE, constructed impressive structures, including adobe pyramids, terraced platforms, palaces, courtyards, and plazas. Their settlements extended along the northern coast of Peru from the Lambayeque River valley south for more than 215 miles (350 km) to the Nepeña River valley.
The Temple of the Sun (Huaca del Sol) and the Temple of the Moon (Huaca de la Luna) stand out. The Temple of the Sun is a stepped pyramid, approximately 1,090 x 446 feet (340 x 136 meters) at the base and 135 feet (41 meters) high. The Temple of the Moon is a terraced platform against a hillside, topped with large rooms. They also built fortified structures on valley sides and developed irrigation canals to support urban centers.
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What are the Moche known for in their art and pottery?
The Moche civilization, which thrived along the northern coast of present-day Peru from the 1st to 8th century CE, is celebrated for its sophisticated and naturalistic pottery. Moche pottery stands out as some of the finest naturalistic sculpture in pre-Columbian Peru.
Moche artisans produced mold-made pottery of fine quality, including water jars with characteristic stirrup spouts. Their pottery often featured portrait heads of people, animals, plants, buildings, and supernatural beings. Painted scenes on vessels offer insights into Moche ceremonial and daily life, such as the sacrifice of prisoners and the ritual consumption of blood. The naturalism and skill displayed in the creation of jars in the form of human heads are especially notable.
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How did the Moche organize their society and government?
The Moche civilization, which thrived in what is now Peru from the 1st to the 8th century CE, had a fragmented political authority. Each river valley or string of valley towns had its own royalty and warrior-priesthood.
Moche society depended on an extensive irrigation system to support urban centers by channeling streams from the Andes for agriculture. The Moche were aggressive, and their society was hierarchical. Evidence of this includes warriors and dignitaries depicted on Moche pottery and the presence of fortified structures. Moche communities were dispersed and situated to preserve irrigated agricultural land, suggesting a dependence on ceremonial centers.
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What do we know about Moche religion and burial traditions?
The Moche civilization, which thrived in ancient Peru from the 1st to the 8th century CE, had a complex religious system that influenced their burial traditions. Archaeological findings, such as those at Huaca Rajada near Sipán, have revealed elaborate tombs filled with jewelry, indicating the burial of warrior-priests and Moche royalty around 300 CE.
Excavations at Dos Cabezas uncovered tombs of Moche elites, with skeletal remains suggesting they were significantly taller than average Moche adults. Each tomb had a compartment containing a miniature representation of the tomb's contents and a copper figure representing the deceased.
Painted scenes on Moche pottery provide insights into their ceremonial life, including the sacrifice of prisoners-of-war and the ritual consumption of their blood. Human sacrifice was practiced in some cultures as an offering to a deity or to accompany the deceased into the afterlife.
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Moche, Andean civilization that flourished from the 1st to the 8th century ce on the northern coast of what is now Peru. The name is taken from the great site of Moche, in the river valley of the same name, which appears to have been the capital or chief city of the Moche peoples. Their settlements extended along the hot, arid coast of northern Peru from the Lambayeque River valley south for more than 215 miles (350 km) to the Nepeña River valley.
Until the 1980s the culture’s best-known remains were those of Moche itself, near Trujillo in the Moche River valley. Two giant structures, known as the Temple of the Sun (Huaca del Sol) and the Temple of the Moon (Huaca de la Luna), dominate the site, though there is no evidence that they were ever so dedicated. The Temple of the Sun is a causeway and stepped pyramid, about 1,090 × 446 feet (340 × 136 metres) at the base and 135 feet (41 metres) high. A short distance away, the Temple of the Moon is a terraced platform built against a natural hillside and capped with large rooms and courtyards. Over the surrounding ground, for several hundred metres in all directions, there is much evidence of a dense occupation, indicating that Moche was not only a political and ceremonial centre but also a city.
In 1987 archaeologists excavated a site called Huaca Rajada, near the village of Sipán in the Lambayeque valley, and uncovered the elaborate, jewelry-filled tomb of a Moche warrior-priest. Several more burial chambers containing the remains of Moche royalty were soon excavated, all dating from about 300 ce. In 1997 excavations at Dos Cabezas, a site inhabited from roughly 150 to 500 ce, revealed the first of three tombs containing the remains of three Moche elite. Each tomb was adjacent to a small compartment containing a miniature representation of the contents of the tomb, complete with a copper figure representing the dead man. The skeletal remains indicated that each of the men was 8 to 12 inches taller than the average Moche adult male. These finds enriched the understanding of Moche society, religion, and culture. Dozens of other Moche pyramid-platform sites exist in the coastal valleys of northern Peru, most of them looted to some degree.
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The Moche channeled streams flowing down from the Andes into an extensive system of irrigation canals that were used to grow corn (maize), beans, and other crops. This intensive agriculture supported numerous urban centres. Political authority was fragmented, however, with each river valley or string of valley towns and villages having its own royalty and warrior-priesthood. The Moche produced sophisticated craft goods, including mold-made pottery that is among the finest naturalistic sculpture in pre-Columbian Peru. These vessels—fine-quality water jars with characteristic stirrup spouts—bear portrait heads of individuals, animals, plants, buildings, and fantastic or demonic beings. Painted scenes on some vessels have yielded an understanding of ceremonial and everyday life in the Moche culture, including the sacrifice of prisoners-of-war and the ritual consumption of their blood. The Moche also were skilled metalworkers who in their jewelry used chemical means to electroplate gold and silver. Moche architecture featured flat-topped pyramids and platforms connected by ramps and dotted with courtyards and plazas.
The reasons for the demise of the Moche are unknown, but the civilization may have succumbed to earthquakes, prolonged drought, catastrophic flooding arising from the El Niño climatic anomaly, the encroachment of sand dunes on populated areas, or less-tangible social and cultural factors.