Moche Pyramids

This is a definitely MUST-DO in Peru! 

Moche Pyramids in Trujillo basically comprises of Huaca de la Luna and Huaca del Sol (not the original names during the Moche period.  Original names unknown at this time). 

Huaca de la Luna is said to be the religious and ceremonial grounds for the Moche tribe (civilisation just before the Chimu and Incas), whereas Huaca del Sol was the political area for the Moche. 

At the time of the visit, Huaca del Sol was closed to the public as they have recently only just commenced excavating this site.  Huaca de la Luna has been open to the public for about 5 years already, however it is still in the process of being excavated and thus new discoveries of this site is being made on an almost daily basis.

Huaca de la Luna is important because it showcased the beliefs this civilisation had back in the time.  According to studies, it indicated that they believed any disaster, e.g. El Nino, El Nina, floods etc. were due to the gods being angry with them, and as such they sacrificed warriors to appease the gods. 

Warriors are chosen through fights, where a pair of warrior are pitched against another pair, and whoever loses their headwear during these fights are deemed the losing pair.  They are then stripped off their clothes, led by the winning pair, and await to be sacrificed.

These are depicted on drawings on the walls of Huaca de la Luna, which is so well preserved that one can still see the colours and paintings on the wall pretty clearly (unlike Chan Chan, where we were told that the carvings on the wall were previously coloured, but what we now see are just pure brown carvings).

The Moche tribe has been around for about 400 – 500 years (around 200 – 700 AD), and the reason why these two sites are called the Moche Pyramids is because of the shape. 

Not entirely a typical pyramid shape one would expect, as the Moche periodically reconfigured their ceremonial architecture with each new monarchy (usually lasting for about 100 years), by burying earlier constructions under layers of adobe bricks arrayed in columns, and superimposing new structures over them, with additional extension of the area (see picture on left). 

Each layer is subsequently called a floor, and researchers have discovered 5 different floors i.e. 5 different monarchies. 

This burying of earlier construction with the adobe bricks also allowed for the well preservation of the archaeological site today.

Apparently there is a tradition of impressing the adobe bricks with distinctive marks, perhaps to identify distinct group tribute in the construction of the monument. 

So if you think the smiley face is of recent trend, think again!  A smiley face imprint was found on one of the adobe bricks in the process (see 2nd top right brick)!

Due to the current excavation process, the route taken to see the entire Huaca de la Luna was through the back via the ceremonial patio, the great altar and then finally the main entrance which was taken by the Moche people in the past. 

However the guide shared that once the excavation is complete, the entry into this site would be from the main entrance, to the great altar and then the ceremonial patio, recreating how the Moche intended the building to be navigated.

Ceremonial Patio

Upon entering the grounds, we were told that we were on the 4th floor.  The 5th floor had been destroyed due to the many years of exposure to the natural environmental elements, especially when it was not covered since it was still in use. 

The 4th floor was partially damaged, as the guide shared that people had tried looking for the site for treasure and may have broken some of the adobe bricks, and thus exposing some areas into the sun, water and sea salt elements. 

At the point of my visit, we could already see parts of the 3rd floor, which was very well maintained.

Corner Enclosure of the Ceremonial Patio

Here you can see the corner enclosure of both the 3rd floor and the 4th floor of the Ceremonial Patio, and how they have actually built the 4th floor by extending the grounds with adobe bricks over the existing 3rd floor back in those days.

 

 

 

Corridors of Huaca de la Luna

We subsequently walked through the corridors of Huaca de la Luna, and at one point came to an open view area which looked out into Huaca del Sol. 

As can be seen, Huaca del Sol is still under a pile of rubble, and part of the height is still under the ground.

Apparently the guide also shared that she remembered people playing around the Huacas when she was much younger, but no one discovered the paintings and the points of entry into these 2 sites, just because it had been covered by rubble over the many years.

However she also mentioned that some of the villagers in the area have found some jewellery and pottery from back in those days and ended up keeping them as their own.  There are also many ceramics from the Huacas which had been excavated that are now currently in the USA or other European countries, that have yet to be returned to Peru, and it is also uncertain if they have the possibility of retrieving those ceramics back.

Great Altar

Only the 4th floor of the Great Altar is exposed at this time, and through studies, they have found that during the monarchy, there has been amendments made to the structure of the Great Altar, as well as changes to the paintings on the wall. 

Research is still being done today to confirm the animals that are shown in the drawings as there are arguments that it could be an octopus or a spider, or something else.

Entrance to Huaca de la Luna

When we were led to the main entrance, we were awed!  Exposed were 7 terraces (different from floors) belonging to the 4th floor with visual depiction of animals and other images which were prominent in the Moche culture.

Bottom terrace : Narrative scenes of combat between warriors, images of the captured warriors and the procession of prisoners followed by scenes of presentation and sacrifice of the prisoners.

2nd terrace : Dancers

3rd terrace : Spider Decapitator, a supernatural being with spider attributes.

4th terrace : Marine Deity, referencing the marine world

5th terrace : Lunar being, which possesses feline traits, and tails end with serpent heads

6th terrace : Serpents, which symbolises fertility

7th terrace : God of the mountains

 

Final Notes

Works has been done on this place for about 20 years, but yet only a fraction has been exposed, and it is already so fascinating! 

I would really love to see how both Huacas would look like once all the work has been done, though not sure if I am going to ever see that happening in this lifetime!

I think we were also lucky that we had a really good guide (Ruth), who were very patient with us and answered our numerous questions.  One of the other tourist in the group, Thomas, also agreed that this archaeological site is way much more interesting than Chan Chan. 

The cost of guide in Chan Chan was also exorbitant, while in Huaca, the guides work on a voluntary basis and appreciates any tip that is given for their explanation and services.