North Coast Peru Moche Sites

On my recent trip to South America, I was able to tour a few impressive archaeological sites on the dry north coast of Peru. These included the sites of El Brujo and Moche and the large Chimor site of Chan Chan. The latter I will write about in another post: It is an incredible site covering some 8 square miles with 11 monumental enclosures, dating A.D. 900 to 1400, and deserves its own separate treatment. The former sites are earlier, and these north coast sites of the Moche culture are thought to date from the beginning of the common era to about A.D. 650. The art and monumental architecture of the Moche culture has been known and studied since the colonial period, but they received a great deal of new attention in the late 1980s and early 1990s when the spectacular royal tombs of Sipan were discovered and excavated in the same area. These also were Moche, and there exists a large literature on those discoveries.


My visit centered around the north coast Peruvian city of Trujillo. Twenty miles north of the city is El Brujo (the Sorcerer), and 18 miles south in the Moche River valley is the site of Moche itself. The name Moche is given to the river, to the site, which possibly was the capital of an ancient state, and to Moche culture, which spread throughout the north coast of Peru. Since the culture is known primarily from archaeology, whether Moche was one or two or several states has not been established, but regional stylistic differences suggest it may not have been a single state.


Moche art and architecture is spectacular, and the use of gold in some of its artistic expression has attracted attention since colonial times. One of the first things I noticed when arriving at the El Brujo site, after of course the huge mounds, which could be seen even before arriving at the site, was the cratered ground surface throughout the site area. These craters are potholes: the remains of the search for treasure by looters. One of the two large mounds at El Brujo, Huaca Cortada, has a large cut through its middle, an attempt to find treasure early last century. It is remarkable that anything actually remains at the site for archaeological study. Armed guards patrol the site today, guarding what is left.

Looters' Potholes at El Brujo

The other large mound at El Brujo is Huaca Cao Viejo. It was constructed of adobe bricks and had at least six decorated terraces and a large, enclosed plaza on its north side. There is a ramp leading to its summit where a structure once stood. Adobe reliefs on the terraces facing the plaza show a Moche warrior leading a procession of prisoners with a rope tied around their necks and battle scenes.

Huaca Cao Viejo

(plaza covered at left, burials covered at upper center)

Warrior and Prisoners in Relief

Detail of Prisoners in Relief

Battle Scene

Burials were found on the upper terraces. The most elaborate is referred to as the Mausoleum of the Queen. The principal burial was of a woman interned with gold and gilded copper ornaments and furniture, accompanied by attendants and juveniles, presumably sacrificed. Whether she was a queen or not we do not know, but her opulent burial with sacrifices in a large, elaborately decorated mound suggests a high status within a complex polity. A museum is under construction at the site, but it was not yet completed at the time of my visit. There is also an archaeology museum in the city of Trujillo.

Mausoleum of the Queen at El Brujo

Tombs of the Queen (left) and Attendants (back)

The site of Moche has two large mounds built of adobe bricks and a residential and craft area between them. The Huaca del Sol (Temple of the Sun) is one of the largest pre-Columbian structures in the Americas, but it has all but been destroyed by looters. In colonial times the Moche River was even rechanneled to erode the mound to wash out any treasure. Archaeological study has focused on the other mound, the Huaca de la Luna (Temple of the Moon). This is a complex of platforms, patios, ramps, and plazas, with stylized painted decorations. It completely overwhelmed me with its enormity and spectacular beauty. This most certainly was the center of political and religious activity for a complex culture.

Huaca de la Luna


Painted Relief from the Great Patio in Huaca de la Luna

Just when I thought I had seen the pinnacle of Peruvian cultural development by my visit to these Moche sites, I was taken to Chan Chan.