Why I Fell in Love with the Moches

No, I'm not going to talk about unattractive gentlemen, but rather about the Moche civilization (pronounced mo-chay).

I discovered this pre-Columbian civilization during my trip to Northern Peru in 2009. Like many Westerners, the only civilization I knew of in South America at that time was the Incas.

However, the Incas were the successors of several civilizations, without which they would never have been able to construct the famous cities (like Machu Picchu) that still testify to their grandeur today.

I fell in love with the beautiful ceramics and the mysterious Moche pyramids, and I would like to share my enthusiasm with you... Let me know afterward if you are convinced!

The Moches lived along the northern coast of Peru from 100 to 700 A.D., corresponding to the period of Antiquity and the early Middle Ages in Europe.

At their height, their territory stretched over more than 600 km in length. Compared to the Inca Empire, which was 4,000 km long, it seems quite small, but in European terms, it's equivalent to the length of the Portuguese coast.

The end of the Moches is thought to be linked to the El Niño phenomenon, causing catastrophic floods, as well as repeated earthquakes.

In relation to other major local civilizations: they were contemporaries of the Nazcas, successors of the Chavin civilization, and predecessors of the Sicán and the Chimú.

Are you following? It's not easy to keep track of all these peoples that we were never taught about in history class, and it's a shame!

It was in Trujillo that I heard about the Moches for the first time, and it's no coincidence, as this city is the heart of this civilization's empire. We then discover the Huaca de la Luna and the Huaca del Sol. These temples, along with the Sipán center in Lambayeque, are the main Moche buildings.

A little warning for repressed dyslexics: do not confuse Sicán and Sipán!

Sipán is a village in northern Peru, in the Lambayeque region, which was one of the main hubs of Moche civilization.

Sicán, or Lambayeque, is the civilization that built upon the ruins of the Moche Empire.

The Moches worshipped the god Ai-apaec, the creator god. This god with an unpronounceable name is most often depicted as a head with a crazy expression, where the different parts of the face are linked to different environments:

Sometimes, Ai-apaec is represented as a spider, a winged creature, a sea monster, or in an anthropomorphic form, holding a knife in one hand and a head in the other (hence his charming nickname >). Different testimonies reveal the importance of human sacrifices in this society, depicted on ceramics and the walls of temples.

On the first uncovered wall of the Temple of the Moon, archaeologists discovered representations of Ai-apaec in various moods.

The philosophy of this people is not limited to this frightening god. The Moches were very concerned about the balance of opposites: the positive and the negative, the world of the living and that of the dead, man and woman, day and night, fullness and emptiness... This interest in duality is clearly reflected in their two-colored ceramics.

The Huaca de la Luna (Temple of the Moon) and the Huaca del Sol (Temple of the Sun, which is not yet accessible to tourists) owe their names to the imagination of the Incas, not the Moches. These two structures are actually pyramids: yes, they are not only found in Egypt or Central America!

These pyramids, however, are different from those we are used to seeing. Each Moche ruler built a temple at a single level. Upon the ruler's death, his successor would fill his predecessor's temple with adobe bricks and construct his own on top. Thus the Huaca de la Luna has 5 levels.

By filling the ancient temples, their frescoes have been protected from the test of time; the wall paintings are still original!

The colors of these frescoes are one of the first things that strike you upon entering the pyramid: I was impressed by the vibrancy and beauty of these colors. Like with the ceramics, red predominates, symbolizing blood, power, but also fertility.

The Moches left no written records, but their frescoes, just like their ceramics, are rich in information about their way of life, their beliefs... You can even spot a > endemic on one of the walls, declared a national living heritage!

After visiting the Huaca de la Luna, I was eager to learn more about the Moche civilization, and that's how I set off to the site of El Brujo, which at the time had not yet finished constructing its museum.

The Moche people consisted of several independent cities, including El Brujo, each under the authority of a local ruler.

In this complex, archaeologists have found traces of human occupation dating back 5,000 years. El Brujo actually consists of a village and three Moche temples:

At the top of the Huaca Cao Viejo is the tomb of the Lady of Cao, the only female tomb discovered to date.

This woman must have held a high position, either religious or administrative, given the frescoes that adorn her tomb and the secondary tombs surrounding her.

The mummified body of the Lady of Cao was found in very good condition, and even more surprisingly, it was covered with religious tattoos of snakes and spiders (symbols of fertility and immortality). Archaeologists think she was likely considered a goddess by her people.

Moche art is not limited to these impressive constructions, far from it. I fell in love with Moche ceramics. My heart also sways for Nazca and Inca art, but the Moches will always hold a special place for me.

Moche ceramics are distinguished mainly by their red color on a cream background, but also by the delicacy of their patterns.

In comparison, Inca ceramics feature more geometric patterns.

Moche art in all its forms reached its peak during the fourth Moche period, the most prosperous of all.

Following this period of abundance, the Moche people had to face various natural disasters, initiating the decline of this civilization with the fifth and final Moche period. This period was more centered on human sacrifices than on art, aimed at appeasing their angry God.

The ceramics mainly depicted scenes from daily life or animals. It is one of the few civilizations from which I admired pottery representing erotic scenes. These pieces are very rarely displayed, more due to censorship than rarity. It's unfortunate because these ceramics allow insight into an aspect of their life: they were a medium for education about sexuality and contraception.

I discovered this type of ceramics during my second trip to Peru, at the Rafael Larco Museum in Lima, which dedicates an entire room to these erotic ceramics (a way to keep them separate from other collections and avoid shocking visitors with sensitive morals?).

In addition to these depictions of daily life, Moche art also illustrates many mythological scenes, particularly with the god Ai-apaec.

A final category of Moche pottery features portraits of important people of the time, depicted with distinct expressions such as laughter, anger, or contemplation.

This civilization possessed great knowledge in metallurgy, giving them a technological edge over Andean and even European civilizations, such as in the technique of copper gilding.

Thanks to their ingenious irrigation system, they managed to survive in an arid desert by redirecting rivers and building channels. This allowed them to develop a flourishing agriculture that enabled trade with other peoples from the coast to the Amazon.

I highly recommend visiting the Huaca de la Luna and the Huaca el Brujo. But when it comes to museums, here is a short selection that will allow you to feast your eyes on their magnificent ceramics:

Bruning Museum (Chiclayo)

This museum presents pieces from various pre-Hispanic civilizations of the region: Moche, Sicán, Chimú, and Inca, and has a superb collection of goldsmithing.

Archaeological Museum of Trujillo

This small museum displays objects related to Moche and Chimú culture and features the famous ceramic of the warrior duck.

Rafael Larco Museum (Lima)

This museum has two particularities: an entire room dedicated to erotic ceramics, and free access to its warehouse, which groups all the ceramics that are not on display in the museum. This is where one realizes the quantity of ceramics that have been found in Peru (the Disneyland of archaeologists!).

Museum of the Royal Tombs of the Lord of Sipán (Lambayeque)

Considered one of the most important in Peru, this pyramid-shaped museum dedicated to the Moche culture contains magnificent pieces: I was able to admire the finest examples of Moche craftsmanship, both in ceramics and goldsmithing. Unfortunately, photography is prohibited there.

The museum displays reconstructions of the tombs found at Huaca Rajada: the famous Lord of Sipán, the Warrior, and the Priesthood. These tombs discovered in 1987 are one of the greatest archaeological discoveries of the past 40 years and, according to some archaeologists, the most important in Peru since the discovery of Machu Picchu!

Sicán museums and the archaeological site of Túcume

Although these museums are dedicated to cultures other than the one we're interested in here, they display some pieces belonging to Moche culture. It was also at the exit of the Túcume museum that I fell for reproductions of Moche ceramics, made by local artisans using ancestral methods.