The Moche

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that archaeologists have traced the human occupation by the Moche of the valleys of the Peruvian coastal plain from the end of the Pleistocene through the development of settled village farming communities and the subsequent rise and fall of civilizations, which took place prior to the arrival of Europeans in the sixteenth century. The author points out that the ability to have control over some forms of production of valued goods and services gave the Moche social status and control. The paper describes the economic, social, family, religious, political and artistic components of the society of the ancient Moche.

From the Paper:

"Throughout the centuries, the Moche sociopolitical structure developed into an increasingly complex form. In its first years, it was most likely a multifaceted chiefdom organization. This structure was maintained through a sophisticated ritual system run by a prestigious group of priests who, as time continued, based their power on administrators and warriors supporting rulers that controlled vast territories. Moche social organization most likely reached the level of a theocratic state in its peak."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Alva, Walter, and Christoper B. Donnan 1993 Royal tombs of Sipan. Los Angeles: Fowler
• Arsenault, Daniel 1994 Symbolisme, rapports sociaux et pouvoir dans les contextes sacrificiels de la societe Mochica (Perou precolombien). Unpublished Ph.D. thesis, Departement d'anthropologie, Universite de Montreal.
• Bawden, Garth. 1996 The Moche. Blackwell: Oxford.
• Berezkin, Juri 1983. Moche Nauka: Leningrad .
• Bourget, Steve and Margaret E. Newman 1998 A toast to the ancestors: Ritual warfare and sacrificial blood in Moche culture Berlin: Baessler Archives.

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