The Progress of the Moches

The Moche civilization flourished in irrigated river valleys on the north coast of Peru 1,000 years before the dawn of the Inca Empire.

Working with a vast and intricate irrigation system that trapped the waters of Andean rivers, the Moche grew corn, beans, chile peppers, potatoes, squash and corn. They dined on Muscovy ducks, llama and guinea pigs. They caught fish and sea lions in the ocean nearby. They probably had a richer, better balanced diet than that of many modern Peruvians; their irrigated river valleys supported a larger population.

Although the Moche had no written language, they left a vast record of their life in their exotic, elaborate and (to modern eyes) wildly eccentric pottery. Although many of these pieces were lost to grave looters after the Spanish invasion, many more objects still survive undisturbed in the mud brick pyramids that stand in the north coast’s river valleys.

The authority in Moche civilization was the warrior-priest, an elaborately costumed figure who drank the blood of his vanquished foes after their throats were slit in elaborate sacrificial ceremonies.

When warrior-priests died, they did not go gently into the good night.

For his journey into the hereafter, the warrior-priest found at the Sipan site--somewhat more than 30 years old and 5-feet-6 inches tall--took with him: 1,000 pots filled with beans, corn and chile peppers; three male attendant-guardians; three teen-age girls; one small child; a whip-tailed dog; not to mention exquisitely crafted (and now priceless) gold and turquoise ear ornaments, a gold crescent-shaped headdress and, as a mark of his exalted station, a gold ceremonial rattle.