In the Moche and Chicama valleys of Peru, a civilization emerged that lasted roughly 600 years. They are called the Moche culture, a clan that thrived from about 100 to 700. The Moche developed a dominant noble class that included priests and military leaders. They founded the first kingdom of the Andes and united weaker cultures under their king.
Like other early civilizations in the Americas, the Moche had no written language. However, archaeologists have discovered much about the Moche people’s beliefs and practices through their art. The Moche legacy
Lives in the ceramics of the culture. Pictures on bowls, jars, urns, and plates portray the Moche people in every aspect of life. Moche doctors perform brain surgery and set broken bones. Weavers spin and work their looms. Messengers carry important news along Moche roads while ancient soldiers wield their slings and lances to protect their kingdom. Moche pottery also depicts food, boats, houses, and farming practices, along with common animals, such as llamas, pumas, frogs, and birds.
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The Tiahuanacos made a temple entrance called the Gateway to the Sun out of one single, huge stone. Ornately carved and precisely hewn, the gateway reaches 12 feet high and weighs an estimated 10 tons. The relief carvings on the Gateway of the Sun represent condors, tigers, and serpents. Some historians believe the Gateway was a pictorial calendar that marked the winter and summer solstice and the spring and fall equinox. The calendar may also have been a work schedule, marking when to plant, weed, water, and harvest. Modern farmers plan their work according to the same seasonal changes marked by the Tiahuana-cos in their massive stone calendar.
Moche construction technology was advanced for its time. The culture produced many large buildings, principally made of adobe. At Cerro Blanco in Peru, pyramids stand as a reminder of the Moche culture. The Huaca del Sol (Shrine of the Sun) and the Huaca de la Luna (Shrine of the Moon) were massive temples made of adobe blocks and built on sprawling temple platforms. The Huaca de la Luna’s base measures 750 feet by 450 feet. These structures existed when the Incas conquered the people living in the Moche Valley about 600 years after the Moche civilization had disappeared. The ability to make adobe bricks that lasted must have impressed Inca architects. Although later Inca architecture used cut stone, early works and peasant dwellings in certain regions used straw-and-mud adobe bricks.
Because the Moche Valley lay in the dry desert of northern Peru, the culture developed advanced agricultural techniques. They used guano (sea bird droppings) and livestock manure to fertilize their fields, and they built earthen aqueducts to carry water for irrigation and for human use. These techniques were still in use when the Inca Empire began. The Incas were quick to recognize the value of Moche agricultural technology to produce more food for their ever-growing empire. The use of irrigation and fertilizers reached its height during Inca days, but the original concept came from the Moche culture.
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