1. Prehistoric Andean States
MOCHE- If state, late phase Pampa Grande AD though not sure if it was ever a state.
North Coast, 14 continuous river valleys, only possible agriculture
Stratified society, well known for the ceramics. Erotic ones as well.
Well-known for their gold found in elite burial context
Diet- irrigation potatoes, corn, lucuma, beans, chillies, coca, pacay, llamas, deer (elites or ritual) guinea pigs. Ducks? Dogs? Fish. Stondylus shell which was a very good commodity.
Architecture- Sipán, Huacas (step pyramids, mounds, mud/adobe bricks) elites may have lived in them. Moche were around there for a long time.
Huaca del sol, the was largest mud/adobe brick pyramid in the Americas.
Peru is one of the most looted country in the world. The Spanish would loot burial sites and called them “mining operations” they diverted the Moche river to wash out the Huaca del Sol and expedite the looting process. Looting continues to go on today. Moche artifacts are heavily traded in the black market due to their craftsmanship and stones, gold and silver (beauty). Great textile weavers as well, yet these did not survive as well.
The Moche
Chavín Wall

2. The Moche Physical Environment
North Valley- 30,000 hectares of irrigable land
South Valley- 15,000 hectares of irrigable land
Semitropical environment
Fauna: parrots, toucans, pumas, iguanas, & boas.
Represented in the iconography of pottery vessels

3. The Moche Mode of production Settlement Pattern
Agriculture- Andean crops began by 1800B.C.
Coast crops: maize, roots, and tubers, legumes, fruits, cucurbits and chili peppers and cotton. (Plus seafood)
Settlement Pattern
Cerro Blanco- primary center’s site (Moche capital
Huaca del Sol
Huaca de la Luna
personalized columns or walls per each community who built it
Functions of the Huacas
Cerro Blanco begun in Moche II (AD )
Hueca del Sol is the largest prehispanic adobe brick structure in South America (340X160) 40 meters high
Luna- excavated burial of over 30 individuals, necks sliced open as part of sacrificial ceremony. Tusked deity representation (Chavin).
Functions- del Sol residence of higher status state functionaries, civic-ceremonial act. Presentation of prisoners of war and tribute
Luna- less habitation debris evident yet fancier tombs and grave goods- residence of royal persons of higher status. Ceremonial activities.

4. The Moche Mode of Reproduction Domestic Economy & Social Organization
5,000-20,000 people earliest periods
Estimated population= 650,000 people
Domestic Economy & Social Organization
Wattle-and-daub quincha structures
Two main rooms
Evidence of an artisans class
Specialized craft production found among states.
Figure 9.17 b
-By comparing the archaeological evidence found at some of the nine valleys, archaeologists estimate the Moche overall population, though this estimate may be high, there were at least several hundred thousand people and maybe over half a million.
-Quincha houses, one room with sleeping benches and weaving clothes, second room was for food preparation

5. The Moche Political Economy Military segmentation for resistance
Moche military expansion & conquest
Huaca Tembladera
Centralized power
Similar personalized marks as in Huasca del Sol
Ruled by Moche administratos and elite
Moche state imposed style of pottery making, pyramid construction and administrative policies
Iconography depicts collection of tribute and P.O.W.s
Warfare, conquest and coercive control
Valleys to the norht and south of the Moche-Chicama core employed military force in attempt to resist incorporation to the developing Moche state.
Moche III military expansion to the southern valleys, by Phase IV total subjugation and incorporation tood place.
- Tembladera was the main center for ceramic production in the valley, homogeneity of pottery
Process of institutionalized warfare and promotion of a “nation state” for the good of the population, justifying aggression and violence.

6. The Moche Ritual, Leadership, and State Ideology
Created a powerful ideology, which permeated
P.O.W. were sacrificed and their blood was handed to priests as offerings.
Religion as means of social control

7. Lord of Sipán
Tomb I- largest burial offering of prehispanic vessels ever found
Copper bells and backflaps- Decapitator deity
Burial included:
Hundreds of pottery vessels
2 sacrificed llamas
A small child
5 coffins, one warrior missing a his feet
Women, all secondary burials from elsewhere not sacrificed there

8. A Model of Moche State Policy
Superstructure
Ideology
Ritual/leadership
Structure
Social organization
Political economy
Infrastructure
Mode of production
Settlement pattern