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These pictures were taken by Barker Fariss At Quebrada Moche, northwestern coast of Peru. For more information see: Principle Investigator for the Moche Origins Project Dr. Brian Billman University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. You can view his website at http://www.rla.unc.edu/teaching/mocheicon/index.html. Moche control of the north coast was from roughly 0-750 AD. The two temples as seen in these photographs are: Huaca del Sol, Pyramid of the Sun and Huaca de la Luna, Pyramid of the Moon. Moche 0-750 AD  Artist Reconstruction of Huaca de la Luna ( © Insituto Nacional del Culturo, Lima Peru ) |
The first image is an artist reconstruction of Huaca de la Luna, an early Pyramid built primarily for population control and deity worship. The Moche developed a very unique system of worship. Because El Niño events are common on the coast of Peru and can be devastating to society and infrastructure today, we think that the Moche developed a system of belief that would attempt to fend off such events. The chief, or king, promised to protect the people from the wrath of god, actual climatic events associated with El Niño, in return for his elite status. High atop the Huaca, the chief would drink the blood of the sacrificed. The primary god at this site and time is known as The Decapitator, and the chief, who was the direct link to this primary god, would wear the mask of The Decapitator when he consumed the sacrificial blood. As we know through geological research, the region sometimes experiences many decades of relatively mild El Niño events. And it is possible that this fluctuation provides some insight into why we find increased sacrifice around those times of historically bad El Niño years, and furthermore, an increase in building and expansion when times were good. We would expect that during a relatively long period of calm El Niño events, faith in their religion would grow, as would the chief's power. |
  The Frieze excavation |
A frieze is the archaeological name for this type of decoration on the walls of the Huaca de la Luna. The Moche built the Huacas in layers, everytime starting from the ground and building up. They covered the previous walls with a new wall, aproximately 3 meters thick, each time they desired to build the Huaca larger, repainting every frieze exactly like the one behind it. Like peeling an onion, archaeologists excavate the newer layers of adobe bricks to reveal the color-rich and well preserved frieze. |
  Huaca del Sol, in the distance |
Huaca del Sol, Pyramid of the Sun, can be seen in the distance from the top of Huaca de la Luna, Pyramid of the Moon. In the valley you can see a modern excavation of commoners' dwellings. Imagine the entire valley filled with dwellings like those seen here. Interestingly, as large as the Huaca del Sol appears in this photograph, it is now only 1/5 of its original size. One thousand years after the Moche ruled the area the Spanish looted the sacred Pyramid of the Sun by diverting the Moche River to hydraulically mine, or flood away, the structure. The Moche masterpieces were melted down into gold and silver bars and sent back to Spain; forever destroying the structure and some of the most intricate gold and silver art ever created. Some of the Moche art that we have today are stunning examples of pre-historic craftsmanship. Some examples for further viewing can be found at http://www.tribalarts.com/feature/peru/index.html |
 The Ramp of Death at Huaca de la Luna |
This ramp was the long entrance into the Huaca de la Luna, Pyramid of the Moon. It rose above a courtyard where the people would gather to watch slaves and prisoners of war being led to their deaths. Within the confines of the Pyramid, priests drew their blood for the chief who wore a mask representing the Decapitator. The chief would then drink the blood and the sacrifice would be complete. The people would gather below in the giant courtyard to watch the ceremony. In this photograph you can see the structures which have been put into place by archaeologists to protect the exposed areas of the Pyramid from inclement weather. Excavation is still on-going at this very important site. |
 The Throne for The Decapitator, the chief |
The throne was recently excavated. It is here that the chief would sit to drink the blood of the sacrificed while his people watched from below. You can see a tunnel of sorts behind the platform. It is thought that from there a priest would deliver the blood in a magnificent golden cup, so it would seem to have appeared out of no where to the people watching from over 100 feet below … a sacramental affirmation of his numinous stature. |
 Frieze of The Decapitator, the god |
The Decapitator is seen here depicted on a frieze inside the Pyramid. This is what the mask of the chief would have looked like, and what the people would have feared. His wrath being a strong El Niño event that would destroy the towns and fields with flood waters if the number of human sacrifices was insufficient. It is thought that during severe weather events the Moche musts have sacrificed astonishing numbers of people a year. |
Chimú 1000-1500 AD Chan Chan |
The last three photographs, Chan Chan, Chan Chan Tschudi, and Chan Chan Palace Pool are from a different civilization. The Chimu controlled this area shortly after the Moche. It is unclear exactly what brought about the rise of Chimú civilization and the decline of Moche. This area is one of the most significant sites in Peru. Chimú was the second largest native state in South America. Chan Chan, the Chimú capital, is one of the largest pre-historic adobe cities in the world. It is estimated that tens of thousands lived in the city of Chan Chan 1000 years ago. |
 Chan Chan and the Tschudi Palace |
From Archaeology magazine: The remains of 187 men have been uncovered; most were found with rope still tied around their wrists and ankles. They had been kneeling when they were stabbed through the heart and fell forward or on their sides into the sand. "Field investigations showed that the sacrificed bodies weren't buried," says Héctor Walde, chief archaeologist. "Many of them were covered by only an inch of sand and some had their heels exposed." Larvae found in the hair of the cadavers came from several generations of flies, indicating that the bodies were watched over for several days to keep away carrion-eating animals and to allow them to be covered naturally by sand. |
 Inside Tschudi, the Palace Pool |
A large fishing net, ropes, fishing weights, and ceramic vessels with food, found at the other end of the beach, were associated with the victims. It's believed that surviving family members placed these objects there so that the men, presumably fishermen, could continue their labors in the afterlife. Textiles covering the faces of some of the victims helped archaeologists affiliate them with the Chimú civilization, which began a military campaign in the area at the end of the fourteenth century. Researchers believe the fishermen were sacrificed by order of the Chimú emperor Minchancaman in gratitude to the sea god, Ni, for success in battle. Archaeologists first identified textiles and bits of bleached bones on the beach at Punta Lobos in 1997 during an archaeological impact study for a mining company that planned to build port facilities in the area. |