Background
The Huacas de Moche site is located 4 km outside the modern city of Trujillo, near the mouth of the Moche River valley. The Huaca de la Luna, although it is the smaller of the two huacas at the site, has yielded the most archaeological information. The Huaca del Sol was partially destroyed and looted by Spanish conquistadors in the seventeenth century, while the Huaca de la Luna was left relatively untouched. Archeologists believe that the Huaca del Sol may have served for administrative, military, and residential functions, as well as a burial mound for the Moche elite. The Huaca de la Luna served primarily a ceremonial and religious function, although it contains burials as well.
Today, the Huaca de la Luna is colored the soft brown of its adobe brickwork. At the time of construction, it was decorated in registers of murals that were painted in black, bright red, sky blue, white, and yellow. The sun and weather has since utterly faded these murals away. Inside the Huaca are other murals created in earlier phases of construction. Many of these depict a deity now known as Ayapec. Ayapec is a Muchik word translating as all knowing (note: the name "Ayapec" or "Ai - Apaec" is a modern artifact. When Larco Hoyle asked his workers about how would be "the highest god" in Muchik, they answered him that it would be "Ai - Apaec". For that reason Larco Hoyle stated, that it was the name for the Moche supreme deity. He ignored also that in the pre-Columbian Moche Valley the spoken language was not Muchik, but Quingnam). "Wrinkle-Face" is the name given to another deity by the later Inca because of the deity's appearance.
Many of the later bricks used in the structure bear one of more than 100 different markings, perhaps corresponding to groups of laborers from different communities. Maybe each "team" was assigned a mark to put on their bricks and these were used to count the number of bricks laid for financial as well as (presumably) competitive purposes.
The Huaca de la Luna is a large complex of three main platforms, each one serving a different function. The northernmost platform, at one time brightly decorated with a variety of murals and reliefs, was destroyed by looters. The surviving central and southern platforms have been the focus of most excavations. The central platform has yielded multiple high-status burials interred with a variety of fine ceramics, suggesting that it was used as a burial ground for the Moche religious elite. The grave goods found at the Huaca del Sol suggest it may have been used for the interment of political rulers.
Religious and Sacrificial Usages of Huaca de la Luna
Sacrifices
The eastern platform, black rock, and adjacent patios were the sites of human sacrifice rituals. Human sacrifice rituals were likely more complex than previously thought, and likely were done for two main fertility rituals: agrarian (crop prosperity and natural disasters, and social (wartime). motivated sacrifices. [2] These are depicted in a variety of Moche graphic representations, most notably painted ceramics. The sacrifices differed in practice in accordance with their given purposes. Wartime sacrifices were often lower class, or captured prisoners of war. Researchers discovered multiple skeletons of adult males at the foot of the rock, all of whom show signs of trauma and imprisonment. Many had bone fractures, further indicating trauma during wartime, but the fatal injury was most often a severe blow to the head. [2] After the sacrifice, bodies of victims would be hurled over the side of the Huaca and left exposed in the patios. There is current debate on how these victims were obtained--whether through staged war games, actual combat between communities, or both. The reason for this is that while there is bioarchaeological evidence of warfare between multiple communities, and along with this, the lack of respect given to the bodied found (there was evidence that the bodies were not buried after death) could possibly indicate that they were fighters from other communities. [3] On the other hand, Moche sacrificial artwork and murals do not depict wartime victories over other groups, the soldiers fighting in the murals look relatively similar to each other. [4]
Ritual Sacrifices With Possible Relation to the El Niño Disaster
El Niño is characterized by long periods of flooding, followed by long periods of drought. This natural disaster greatly impacts Peruvian agriculture and life. Huaca de la Luna was greatly affected by these periods. [5] Archaeological evidence shows certain sacrifices that line up with specific El Niño periods. The dirt composition around the sacrifices could indicate that the bodies were buried in particularly muddy conditions, and may have been damaged/ shifted by floodwater. [1] These sacrificial rituals were done differently than the wartime mediated ones, with the cause of death most often being a clean cut to the neck, and the de-fleshing and presentation of the sacrifice. [2] There is also evidence of the sacrifice of children, possibly acting as offerings following the completion of a temple. [1] It is important to note though that while many of the sacrifices line up with El Niño, there is no conclusive evidence that the ritual killings were done for El Niño-- that is to say that we cannot assume causation over correlation.
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