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87-476: Moche can refer to: Culture [ edit ] Moche culture Geography [ edit ] Moche, Trujillo , a city in Peru The Countryside of Moche The Moche River The Valley of Moche Moche District , one of 11 districts of Trujillo Province Food [ edit ] Moche (food) , also spelled mochi or muchi ,

174-578: A garroted teenage girl, probably a servant, were also found in the tomb. News of the discovery was announced by Peruvian and U.S. archaeologists in collaboration with National Geographic in May 2006. In 2005 an elaborate gold mask thought to depict a sea god, with curving rays radiating from a stone-inlaid feline face, was recovered in London by the Metropolitan Police . Experts believe that

261-585: A Filipino rice cake derived from Chinese-Filipino buchi ( jian dui ) See also [ edit ] Mocha Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Moche . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Moche&oldid=968047748 " Categories : Disambiguation pages Place name disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description

348-751: A central role in the mound-building peoples' religious life. Documented uses include semi-public chief 's house platforms, public temple platforms, mortuary platforms, charnel house platforms, earth lodge /town house platforms, residence platforms, square ground and rotunda platforms, and dance platforms. Cultures that built substructure mounds include the Troyville culture , Coles Creek culture , Plaquemine culture and Mississippian cultures . Many square flat-topped mound tombs in China . The first emperor Qin Shi Huang ( c.  221 BC , who unified

435-716: A circular plan survives at the site of Cuicuilco , now inside Mexico City and mostly covered with lava from an eruption of the Xitle Volcano in the 1st century BC. Several circular stepped pyramids called Guachimontones survive in Teuchitlán, Jalisco . Pyramids in Mexico were often used for human sacrifice . Harner stated that for the dedication of the Great Pyramid of Tenochtitlan in 1487, "one source states 20,000, another 72,344, and several give 80,400" as

522-536: A complete Moche demise. Moche polities survived beyond 650 AD in the Jequetepeque Valley and the Moche Valleys. For instance, in the Jequetepeque Valley, later settlements are characterized by fortifications and defensive works. While there is no evidence of a foreign invasion (i.e. a Huari invasion) as many scholars have suggested in the past, the defensive works suggest social unrest, possibly

609-515: A different political entity. The Southern Moche region, believed to be the heartland of the culture, originally comprised the Chicama and Moche valleys, and was first described by Rafael Larco Hoyle . The Huaca del Sol-Huaca de la Luna site was probably the capital of this region. The Northern Moche region includes three valley systems: The Piura was fully part of the Moche phenomenon only for

696-448: A figure which scholars have nicknamed the "Decapitator"; it is frequently depicted as a spider, but sometimes as a winged creature or a sea monster: together all three features symbolize land, water and air. When the body is included, the figure is usually shown with one arm holding a knife and another holding a severed head by the hair; it has also been depicted as "a human figure with a tiger's mouth and snarling fangs". The "Decapitator"

783-480: A forced draft of air. It is probable that the Moche used a similar method. In fact, archaeologists are aware of several bowls from the Moche culture that depict this process. Many of the Moche metalworking techniques were invented or at least perfected by the Moche themselves, but they owe the invention of some of their most-used techniques at least in part to the influences of the Chavín culture that preceded them. Like

870-586: A head cloth for men and a long tunic for women. Foreigners to the Moche Culture were commonly portrayed wearing Moche clothing that contained details pertaining to both genders or items that were not specific to either. Descendants of Moche people today continue to have strong weaving traditions. The Moche discovered both electrochemical replacement plating and depletion gilding , which they used to cover copper crafts found at Loma Negra in thin layers of gold or silver. Modern attempts were able to recreate

957-598: A household level of production. However, more monochrome, homogenized relics suggest mass-production may have become more common by 500-800 AD. Variation in garments likely correlates with different social classes. Sophisticated weaving techniques and bright dyes are more common on elites' clothing, whereas commoners may have had garments that were less sophisticated and lacked dye—and they likely had fewer of them. Complex tapestries developed by artisans are another good associated with high social hierarchy. Several specific items also correlate to gender in Moche culture, such as

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1044-801: A large body of evidence for social stratification. Those lowest in the Moche hierarchy were buried in a simple hole near their household; platform mounds with an abundance of goods were awarded to the highest-ranking members of society. An incomplete list of possible funerary objects includes copper masks, silver, pottery, and gold goods. Presence of metal-worked goods is thought to be especially significant with respect to high status. Excavation of dwellings indicates that living conditions of Moche likely also differed based on social standing, but excavation data here remains skewed and not entirely complete so far. Excavated elite burials also illustrate that remains sexed both male and female held elite positions in Moche culture. There are many theories as to what caused

1131-715: A loss of power. The coloration of Moche pottery is often simple, with yellowish cream and rich red used almost exclusively on elite pieces. White and black are rarely used. The Moche are known for their portraiture pottery . The pottery portraits created by the Moche appear to represent actual individuals. Many of the portraits are of individuals with physical disfigurements or genetic defects. The realistic detail in Moche ceramics may have helped them serve as didactic models. Older generations could pass down general knowledge about reciprocity and embodiment to younger generations through such portrayals. The sex pots could teach about procreation, sexual pleasure, cultural and social norms,

1218-433: A process of specialization began that led to the development of the Moche civilization. Both iconography and the finds of human skeletons in ritual contexts seem to indicate that human sacrifice played a significant part in Moche religious practices. These rites appear to have involved the elite as key actors in a spectacle of costumed participants, monumental settings and possibly the ritual consumption of blood. The tumi

1305-487: A pyramid can be of any polygon shape, such as triangular or quadrilateral , and its lines either filled or stepped. A pyramid has the majority of its mass closer to the ground with less mass towards the pyramidion at the apex . This is due to the gradual decrease in the cross-sectional area along the vertical axis with increasing elevation. This offers a weight distribution that allowed early civilizations to create monumental structures. Civilizations in many parts of

1392-430: A short time—during its Early Moche, or Early Moche-Vicús phase—and then developed independently. It appears that there was a lot of independent development among these various Moche centers (except in the eastern regions). They all likely had ruling dynasties of their own, related to each other. Centralized control of the whole Moche area may have taken place from time to time, but appears infrequent. Pampa Grande , in

1479-507: A similar chemical plating process using boiling water and salts found naturally in the area. It is the Moche ceramic tradition that had previously been given the most attention in Archaeology, though this is beginning to change as archaeologists continue to discover ties between iconography on ceramic and other parts of Moche art. Just as important to Moche craftsmanship and culture is metallurgy . The skill required to create these objects

1566-499: A sort of immortality, the transfer of life and souls, transformation, and the relationship between the two cyclical views of nature and life. Extreme weather and fragility of garments mean that relatively few examples of Moche textiles exist. However, limited quantities have been found in tombs, especially of higher-status members of society. Many of the remaining garments are incomplete articles, partially broken down. Nevertheless, scholars have been able to gain cultural insights from

1653-427: A still standing structure at Hellenikon, a common tomb for soldiers who died in a legendary struggle for the throne of Argos and another that he was told was the tomb of Argives killed in a battle around 669/8 BC. Neither survives and no evidence indicates that they resembled Egyptian pyramids. At least two surviving pyramid-like structures are available to study, one at Hellenikon and the other at Ligourio/Ligurio,

1740-420: A tomb alleged to be the tomb of Amphion and Zethus near Thebes , a structure at Stylidha ( Thessaly ) which is a long wall, etc. She pushed the possibility that the stones that were dated might have been recycled from earlier constructions. She claimed that earlier research from the 1930s, confirmed in the 1980s by Fracchia, was ignored. Liritzis responded that Lefkowitz failed to understand and misinterpreted

1827-460: A village near the ancient theatre Epidaurus . These buildings have inwardly sloping walls, but bear no other resemblance to Egyptian pyramids. They had large central rooms (unlike Egyptian pyramids) and the Hellenikon structure is rectangular rather than square, 12.5 by 14 metres (41 by 46 ft) which means that the sides could not have met at a point. The stone used to build these structures

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1914-533: A wealth of metal objects unparalleled with any previous discovery. Most of these objects remained in their original context, allowing researchers to prove beyond reasonable doubt that metal objects were closely intertwined with the power of the Moche elite. The rulers of the Moche were incredibly adept at portraying and perpetuating their power through art, which is well-exemplified by the Moche metallurgy. Moche techniques in metalworking have proved to be an intriguing area of research. Their techniques were likely some of

2001-434: Is anal sex , with scenes of vaginal penetration being very rare. Most pairs are heterosexual, with carefully carved genitalia to show that the anus, rather than the vagina, is being penetrated. Often an infant is depicted breastfeeding while the couple has sex. Fellatio is sometimes represented, but cunnilingus is absent. Some depict male skeletons masturbating, or being masturbated by living women. Because irrigation

2088-406: Is also common among samples from this period, though by the 500-800 AD range, these patterns become much less abundant. It is thought that elite members of Moche society had specialized artisans who manufactured their textiles, whereas lower-ranking typical members of society would manufacture their own clothing. Whorls and needles have proven quite common in excavation of Moche dwellings—pointing to

2175-594: Is another northern site in the Jequetepeque valley. It was prominent in the Middle and Late Moche Periods (400–850 AD). Numerous Moche tombs have been excavated here, including several burials containing high status female individuals. These women were depicted in Moche iconography as the Priestess . The best known differences are: Moche pottery is some of the most varied in the world. The use of mold technology

2262-596: Is believed to be the burial place of Askia Mohammad I , one of the Songhai Empire 's most prolific emperors . It was built at the end of the fifteenth century and is designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site . UNESCO describes the tomb as an example of the monumental mud-building traditions of the West African Sahel . The complex includes the pyramidal tomb, two mosques , a cemetery and an assembly ground. At 17 metres (56 ft) in height it

2349-685: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Moche culture Moche society was agriculturally based, with a significant level of investment in the construction of a sophisticated network of irrigation canals for the diversion of river water to supply their crops. Their artifacts express their lives, with detailed scenes of hunting, fishing, fighting, sacrifice, sexual encounters, and elaborate ceremonies. The Moche are particularly noted for their elaborately painted ceramics , gold work, monumental constructions ( huacas ), and irrigation systems. Moche history may be broadly divided into three periods:

2436-792: Is evident, which would have enabled the mass production of certain forms. But Moche ceramics vary widely in shape and theme, with most important social activities documented in pottery, including war, agriculture, metalwork , weaving , and erotica . Traditional north coast Peruvian ceramic art uses a limited palette, relying primarily on red and white colors, fineline painting, fully modeled clay, veristic figures, and stirrup spouts. Moche ceramics created between 150 and 800 AD epitomize this style. Moche pots have been found not just at major north coast archaeological sites, such as Huaca de la luna, Huaca del sol, and Sipán, but also at small villages and unrecorded burial sites as well. At least 500 Moche ceramics have sexual themes. The most frequently depicted act

2523-415: Is one of the most arid areas in the world, where there is no rain throughout the year. That factor, far from discouraging the establishment of communities, was the trigger for the construction of an outstanding culture that developed engineering works that interconnected various river valleys, with the aim of irrigating desert territories. Many of the Moche agricultural systems are still in operation, such as

2610-441: Is perhaps some of the finest the world has ever known. The first Moche metalworks entered into the archaeological record were unearthed by Max Uhle at Huaca del Sol and Huaca de Luna during 1899 and 1900, but were largely ignored while Uhle focused on other aspects of the sites. Moche metal work gained attention after Peruvian researcher Rafael Larco Hoyle published Los Mochicas in 1945. Here, he mostly focused on describing

2697-650: Is that these pyramids were inspired by the Borobudur monument through Sumatran and Javanese monks. A similar Buddhist monument survives in Vrang , Tajikistan . At least nine Buddhist step pyramids survive, 4 from former Gyeongsang Province of Korea, 3 from Japan, 1 from Indonesia (Borobudur) and 1 from Tajikistan . Several pyramids were erected throughout the Pacific islands, such as Puʻukoholā Heiau in Hawaii ,

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2784-687: Is the largest pre- colonial architectural monument in Gao. It is a notable example of the Sudano-Sahelian architectural style that later spread throughout the region. One of the unique structures of Igbo culture was the Nsude pyramids, in the Nigerian town of Nsude, northern Igboland . Ten pyramidal structures were built of clay/mud. The first base section was 60 ft (18 m) in circumference and 3 ft (0.9 m) in height. The next stack

2871-419: Is thought to have figured prominently in the beliefs surrounding the practice of sacrifice. Although it remains somewhat unclear how geographically divided Moche culture was, scholars are very confident that the Moche were a socially divided society. Beyond royalty, the Moche can be divided into a general upper and lower class, and each class can be further stratified into smaller groups. Intra-class movement

2958-1176: The Airavatesvara Temple at Darasuram . However, the largest temple (area) is the Ranganathaswamy Temple in Srirangam, Tamil Nadu . The Thanjavur temple was built by Raja Raja Chola in the 11th century. The Brihadisvara Temple was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1987; the Temple of Gangaikondacholapuram and the Airavatesvara Temple at Darasuram were added in 2004. Austronesian megalithic culture in Indonesia featured earth and stone step pyramid structures called punden berundak. These were discovered in Pangguyangan near Cisolok and in Cipari near Kuningan. The stone pyramids were based on beliefs that mountains and high places were

3045-469: The Black Athena controversy. Lefkowitz criticised this research, suggesting that some of the research was done not to determine the reliability of the dating method, as was suggested, but to back up a claim and to make points about pyramids and Greek civilization. She claimed that not only were the results imprecise, but that other structures mentioned in the research are not in fact pyramids, e.g.

3132-468: The El Brujo complex, Mocollope, Cerro Mayal, Galindo, Huanchaco , and Pañamarka . Their adobe huacas have been mostly destroyed by looters and natural forces over the last 1,300 years. The surviving ones show that the coloring of their murals was quite vibrant. Two distinct regions of the Moche civilization have been identified, Southern and Northern Moche, with each area probably corresponding to

3219-711: The Nubians who ruled Egypt in the Late Period. The Great Pyramid of Giza is the largest in Egypt and one of the largest in the world. At 146.6 metres (481 ft) it was the tallest structure in the world until the Lincoln Cathedral was finished in 1311 AD. Its base covers an area of around 53,000 square metres (570,000 sq ft). The Great Pyramid is the only extant one of the Seven Wonders of

3306-932: The Pulemelei Mound in Samoa , and Nan Madol in Pohnpei . With the Egyptian Revival movement in the nineteenth and early twentieth century, pyramids became more common in funerary architecture. The tomb of Quintino Sella , outside the monumental cemetery of Oropa , is pyramid-shaped. This style was popular with tycoons in the US. The Schoenhofen Pyramid Mausoleum (1889) in Chicago and Hunt's Tomb (1930) in Phoenix, Arizona are notable examples. Some people build pyramid tombs for themselves. Nicolas Cage bought

3393-538: The Ubaid period of the fourth millennium BC. The earliest ziggurats began near the end of the Early Dynastic Period . The original pyramidal structure, the anu ziggurat, dates to around 4000 BC. The White Temple was built on top of it circa 3500 BC. Built in receding tiers upon a rectangular, oval, or square platform, the ziggurat was a pyramidal structure with a flat top. Sun-baked bricks made up

3480-480: The feudal era, e.g. as the tower of Oviedo 's Gothic Cathedral of San Salvador . Andean cultures used pyramids in various architectural structures such as the ones in Caral , Túcume and Chavín de Huantar , constructed around the same time as early Egyptian pyramids. Several Mesoamerican cultures built pyramid-shaped structures. Mesoamerican pyramids were usually stepped, with temples on top, more similar to

3567-481: The Ancient World . Ancient Egyptian pyramids were, in most cases, placed west of the river Nile because the divine pharaoh's soul was meant to join with the sun during its descent before continuing with the sun in its eternal round. As of 2008, some 135 pyramids had been discovered in Egypt, most located near Cairo. While African pyramids are commonly associated with Egypt, Sudan has 220 extant pyramids,

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3654-693: The Ascope aqueduct, the La Cumbre Canal, in Chicama, or the San Jose dam, which continue to provide water, coming from the Andean region and groundwater, guaranteeing several harvests per year. Access to new farmland, gained from the desert, was the starting point of a civilization that, based on abundant harvests, became socially stratified. All this allowed certain members of the community to no longer dedicate themselves exclusively to food production, and

3741-494: The Ica-Nazca because they later mined guano for fertilizer and may have traded with northerners. Moche pottery has been found near Ica, but no Ica-Nazca pottery has been found in Moche territory. The coastal Moche culture also co-existed (or overlapped in time) with the slightly earlier Recuay culture in the highlands. Some Moche iconographic motifs can be traced to Recuay design elements. The Moche also interacted with

3828-637: The Lambayeque Valley, on the shore of the Chancay River, became one of the largest Moche sites anywhere, and occupied an area of more than 400 hectares. It was prominent in the Moche V period (600–700 AD), and features an abundance of Moche V ceramics. The site was laid out and built in a short period of time and has an enormous ceremonial complex. It includes Huaca Fortaleza , which is the tallest ceremonial platform in Peru. San Jose de Moro

3915-748: The Mesopotamian ziggurat than the Egyptian pyramid. The largest by volume is the Great Pyramid of Cholula , in the Mexican state of Puebla . Constructed from the 3rd century BC to the 9th century AD, this pyramid is the world's largest monument, and is still not fully excavated. The third largest pyramid in the world, the Pyramid of the Sun , at Teotihuacan , is also located in Mexico . An unusual pyramid with

4002-452: The Moche way of life, political hierarchy, and jeopardized their faith in their religion. This super El Niño may have hindered Moche agriculture. Moche agriculture relied considerably on canal-based irrigation from Andes mountain runoff, which a severe drought would have jeopardized. Certain scholars attribute strain on the irrigation systems to sensitive tectonics in the region. Other evidence demonstrates that these events did not cause

4089-414: The Moche's collapse. Several examples of the molds used to shape the low relief sculptures have been discovered, most are made of a solid metal alloy but wood molds were also used. Researchers Christopher B. Donnan and David A. Scott proved how delicate this process of shaping is when they used a cast of one of the copper alloy molds to recreate the process. They found one of the most important parts of

4176-666: The Warrior Priest tomb at the Huaca de la Cruz site one year later also encouraged further study. The same would happen when burial grounds at the site now known as Loma Negra in the Piura Valley were unearthed by looters finding a wealth of gold, silver, and copper objects along with ceramic vessels. An important discovery in the context of Moche metallurgy was the discovery of the Tombs of Sipán in 1986. These burials included

4263-705: The abode for the spirit of the ancestors . The step pyramid is the basic design of the 8th century Borobudur Buddhist monument in Central Java . However later Java temples were influenced by Indian Hindu architecture , as exemplified by the spires of Prambanan temple. In the 15th century, during late Majapahit period, Java saw the revival of indigenous Austronesian elements as displayed by Sukuh temple that somewhat resemble Mesoamerican pyramids, and also stepped pyramids of Mount Penanggungan. In east Asia, Buddhist stupas were usually represented as tall pagodas . However, some pyramidal stupas survive. One theory

4350-420: The artifact had been looted in the late 1980s from an elite tomb at the Moche site of La Mina. It was returned to Peru in 2006. Pyramid A pyramid (from Ancient Greek πυραμίς ( puramís )  'pyramid') is a structure whose visible surfaces are triangular in broad outline and converge toward the top, making the appearance roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense . The base of

4437-493: The artists of Chavín, they mostly used alloys that contained some combination of gold, silver, or copper that they had developed. While Moche art as a whole is very much independent of the Chavín style, many recurring motifs found across Moche art, including the metalwork, also seem to have their roots in Chavín culture. Moche art continues the tradition of anthropomorphic figures as well as characters with prominent fangs, although

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4524-416: The core of the ziggurat with facings of fired bricks on the outside. The facings were often glazed in different colors and may have had astrological significance. Kings sometimes had their names engraved on them. The number of tiers ranged from two to seven. It is assumed that they had shrines at the top, but no archaeological evidence supports this and the only textual evidence is from Herodotus . Access to

4611-485: The demise of the Moche political structure. Some scholars have emphasized the role of environmental change. Studies of ice cores drilled from glaciers in the Andes reveal climatic events between 563 and 594 AD, possibly a super El Niño , that resulted in 30 years of intense rain and flooding followed by 30 years of drought, part of the aftermath of the climate changes of 535–536 . These weather events could have disrupted

4698-786: The development of the first interpretations of Moche culture, ranking the Moche as being "high on the list of advanced societies" as a civilization. He listed traits of the Moche culture such as "exquisite artworks" and the "creation of large scale facilities and public works" as a testament to this ranking. Arguably the most significant event which shaped Moche archaeological research was the Virú Valley Project, beginning in 1946 and led by Willian Duncan Strong and Wendell Bennett. Their stratigraphic excavations in Virú showed an earlier ceramic style known as Gallinazo, which appeared to have “abruptly ended”. In 1987, archaeologists, alerted by

4785-487: The earliest pyramidal structures, called ziggurats . In ancient times, these were brightly painted in gold / bronze . They were constructed of sun-dried mud-brick, and little remains of them. Ziggurats were built by the Sumerians , Babylonians , Elamites , Akkadians , and Assyrians . Each ziggurat was part of a temple complex that included other buildings. The ziggurat's precursors were raised platforms that date from

4872-681: The emergence of the Moche culture in Early Moche (100–300 AD), the expansion and flourishing during Middle Moche (300–600 AD), and the urban nucleation and subsequent collapse in Late Moche (500–800 AD). The Salinar culture reigned on the north coast of Peru from 200 BC–200 AD. According to some scholars, this was a short transition period between the Cupisnique and the Moche cultures. There are considerable parallels between Moche and Cupisnique iconography and ceramic designs, including

4959-526: The fangs are usually less pronounced than Chavín art and not present quite as often. That is not to say that the Moche did not leave their own mark on the Anden society. Many of the techniques developed by the Moche, especially their electroplating and gilding techniques used to make copper alloys appear to be almost internally gold or silver, would continue to be used up until the Inca conquest hundreds of years after

5046-490: The iconography of the 'Spider god'. The Moche cultural sphere is centered on several valleys on the north coast of Peru in regions La Libertad , Lambayeque , Jequetepeque , Chicama , Moche , Virú , Chao , Santa , and Nepena. It occupied 250 miles of desert coastline and up to 50 miles inland. The Huaca del Sol , a pyramidal adobe structure on the Rio Moche, was the largest pre-Columbian structure in Peru. It

5133-655: The island. However, over time they were dismantled and used as building material. Güímar hostred nine pyramids, only six of which survive. The 27-metre-high Pyramid of Cestius was built by the end of the 1st century BC and survives close to the Porta San Paolo . Another, named Meta Romuli , stood in the Ager Vaticanus (today's Borgo ), but was destroyed at the end of the 15th century. Pyramids were occasionally used in Christian architecture during

5220-411: The large flared headdresses and brilliantly decorated nose ornaments often found in connection with the Moche elite. Despite having no formal training in archaeology, Larco Hoyle was the first to truly attempt a systematic reconstruction of the Moche by drawing on information from excavations, art, iconography, Spanish documents, and modern traditions. The discovery of bronze and gold artifacts buried in

5307-514: The local police, discovered the first intact Moche tomb at Sipán in northern Peru. Inside the tomb, which was carbon dated to about 300 AD, the archaeologists found the mummified remains of a high ranking male, the Lord of Sipán . Also in the tomb were the remains of six other individuals, several animals, and a large variety of ornamental and functional items, many of which were made of gold, silver, and other valuable materials. Continuing excavations of

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5394-438: The materials are not found on the Moche coast. Lapis Lazuli was available only from modern Chile hundreds of miles to the south and Spondulus shells had to be acquired from modern Ecuador to the north. This makes it clear that the Moche must have had extensive trade networks, and likely contact with other cultures. Also notable in this context is the fact that many of the animals accurately depicted in Moche artwork are found only in

5481-400: The metal or the use of interlocking tabs and slits in the two parts, but soldering and edged-wielding were also used. Finishing touches could also be added with embossing, punching and chasing along with embedding other precious materials. Stones such as lapis lazuli , turquoise, spondylus shells, and others have all been found embedded in Moche metal works. It is worth noting that several of

5568-662: The methodology. The Pyramids of Güímar refer to six rectangular pyramid-shaped, terraced structures, built from lava without mortar . They are located in the district of Chacona, part of the town of Güímar on the island of Tenerife in the Canary Islands . The structures were dated to the 19th century and their function explained as a byproduct of contemporary agricultural techniques. Autochthonous Guanche traditions as well as surviving images indicate that similar structures (also known as, "Morras", "Majanos", "Molleros", or "Paredones") were built in many locations on

5655-501: The most advanced in the world during the time of the Moche; restoration has proven difficult to many present-day metalworkers. Craftspeople perfected a wide variety of metalworking techniques. When they invaded in the sixteenth century, Spanish conquistadors took note of the highly skilled metalwork the Inca were able to produce. Unlike European metalworkers, the Inca blew through long tubes to heat coals, rather than using bellows to create

5742-579: The most in the world. Nubian pyramids were constructed (roughly 240 of them) at three sites in Sudan to serve as tombs for the kings and queens of Napata and Meroë . The pyramids of Kush, also known as Nubian Pyramids , have different characteristics than those of Egypt. The Nubian pyramids had steeper sides than the Egyptian ones. Pyramids were built in Sudan as late as 200 AD. The Tomb of Askia, in Gao , Mali ,

5829-600: The neighbouring Virú culture . Eventually, by 700 CE, they had established control over the Viru. In 1899 and 1900, Max Uhle was the first archaeologist to excavate a Moche site, Huaca de la Luna, which is where the architectural complex that is known as Huacas de Moche (Pyramids of Moche) is located in the Moche Valley. The name of this architectural complex is where the name of the Moche site and culture came from. Excavations in 1938 and 1939 by Rafael Larco Hoyle saw

5916-527: The number of humans sacrificed. Many pre-Columbian Native American societies of ancient North America built large pyramidal earth structures known as platform mounds . Among the largest and best-known of these structures is Monks Mound at the site of Cahokia in what became Illinois , completed around 1100 AD. It has a base larger than that of the Great Pyramid. Many mounds underwent repeated episodes of expansion. They are believed to have played

6003-425: The number until the end of the Middle Kingdom . The age of the pyramids reached its zenith at Giza in 2575–2150 BC. The last king to build royal pyramids was Ahmose , with later kings hiding their tombs in the hills, such as those in the Valley of the Kings in Luxor's West Bank. In Medinat Habu and Deir el-Medina , smaller pyramids were built by individuals. Smaller pyramids with steeper sides were built by

6090-401: The process is the thickness of the sheet metal. Too thick and it will fail to capture the details of the mold and prove too difficult to shape, but too thin and the metal would winkle and tear. They found 0.4mm to be the ideal thickness although the repeated hammering thinned the sheet down to 0.25mm, in addition to hammering repeated annealing was also required. Analysis of the items found at

6177-438: The remaining Moche textiles. The Moche wove textiles, mostly using cotton and wool from vicuña and alpaca . The relative presence of these fabrics, as well as which patterns were used, varies chronologically throughout Moche culture. Too few relics exist from early Moche culture to draw conclusive findings. Textiles from around 450 AD uniquely include a male head cloth—which is not readily found elsewhere. Twill and gauze weaving

6264-569: The result of climatic changes, as factions fought for control over increasingly scarce resources. Chronologically, the Moche was an Early Intermediate Period culture, which was preceded by the Chavín horizon , as well as the Cupisnique, and succeeded by the Huari and Chimú . The Moche co-existed with the Ica-Nazca culture in the south. They are thought to have had some limited contact with

6351-583: The seven pre-imperial kingdoms) was buried under a large mound outside modern-day Xi'an . In the following centuries about a dozen more Han dynasty royal persons were also buried under flat-topped pyramidal earthworks. Numerous giant, granite , temple pyramids were built in South India during the Chola Empire , many of which remain in use. Examples include Brihadisvara Temple at Thanjavur , Brihadisvara Temple at Gangaikonda Cholapuram , and

6438-541: The shrine would have been by a series of ramps on one side of the ziggurat or by a spiral ramp from base to summit. The most famous African pyramids are in Egypt — huge structures built of bricks or stones, primarily limestone, some of which are among the world's largest constructions. They are shaped in reference to the sun's rays. Most had a smoothed white limestone surface. Many of the facing stones have fallen or were removed and used for construction in Cairo . The capstone

6525-669: The site have yielded thirteen additional tombs. In 2005, a mummified Moche woman known as the Lady of Cao was discovered at the Huaca Cao Viejo, part of the El Brujo archaeological site on the outskirts of present-day Trujillo, Peru . It is the best preserved Moche mummy found to date; the elaborate tomb that housed her had unprecedented decoration. Archaeologists believe that the tomb had been undisturbed since approximately 450 AD. The tomb contained military and ornamental artifacts, including war clubs and spear throwers. The remains of

6612-455: The skeletons of young men deliberately excarnated , perhaps for temple displays. The Moche may have also held and tortured the victims for several weeks before sacrificing them, with the intent of deliberately drawing blood. Verano believes that some parts of the victim may have been eaten as well in ritual cannibalism. The sacrifices may have been associated with rites of ancestral renewal and agricultural fertility. Moche iconography features

6699-401: The tombs of Sipan has found that the Moche were able to maintain an almost completely uniform thickness between 1 and about 0.1 millimeters depending on the object. When this was completed several other techniques could be used to finish the piece. Oftentimes other pieces were attached, sometimes with the intention of being moving parts of the work. More often than not this was done by crimping

6786-560: The tropical Amazon. Researchers of the Moche culture agree that the emergence of the Moche culture is related to the intensification of the production of corn, cotton, beans and squash, among other agricultural products, which allowed the development of a regional Moche political economy in the Valley of Moche from the north coast of Peru during the Early Intermediate Period (400 BC–600 AD). The northern region of Peru

6873-681: The world have built pyramids. The largest pyramid by volume is the Mesoamerican Great Pyramid of Cholula , in the Mexican state of Puebla . For millennia, the largest structures on Earth were pyramids—first the Red Pyramid in the Dashur Necropolis and then the Great Pyramid of Khufu , both in Egypt —the latter is the only extant example of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World . The Mesopotamians built

6960-583: Was 45 ft (14 m) in circumference. Circular stacks continued to the top. The structures were temples for the god Ala , who was believed to reside there. A stick was placed at the top to represent the god's residence. The structures were laid in groups of five parallel to each other. Because it was built of clay/mud like the Deffufa of Nubia, over time periodic reconstruction has been required. Pausanias (2nd century AD) mentions two buildings resembling pyramids, one, 19 kilometres (12 mi) southwest of

7047-491: Was a crescent-shaped metal knife used in sacrifices. While some scholars, such as Christopher B. Donnan and Izumi Shimada , argue that the sacrificial victims were the losers of ritual battles among local elites, others, such as John Verano and Richard Sutter , suggest that the sacrificial victims were warriors captured in territorial battles between the Moche and other nearby societies. Excavations in plazas near Moche huacas have found groups of people sacrificed together and

7134-469: Was for members of the elite, such as priests and priestesses, to use ceremonies to reinforce their standing (see the Religion section for more information on ceremonies). It may also be true that physical force was used. The Moche elite may have struggled to retain power at times, and inter-elite quarreling is speculated to have played into the culture's collapse. Excavated Moche burial sites constitute

7221-487: Was limestone quarried locally and was cut to fit, not into freestanding blocks like the Great Pyramid of Giza. These structures were dated from pot shards excavated from the floor and grounds. The latest estimates are around the 5th and 4th centuries. Normally this technique is used for dating pottery , but researchers used it to try to date stone flakes from the structure walls. This launched debate about whether or not these structures are actually older than Egypt , part of

7308-415: Was partly destroyed when Spanish Conquistadors looted its graves for gold in the 16th century. The nearby Huaca de la Luna is better preserved, with many of its interior walls still filled with many colorful murals and complex iconography. The site has been under professional archaeological excavation since the early 1990s. Other major Moche sites include Sipán , Loma Negra, Dos Cabezas, Pacatnamu ,

7395-559: Was possible within these broad categories, but inter-class switches between them were less feasible. Many pre-contact cultures share a divided structure comparable to the Moche—but each may have unique development. Although religion seems to have been a centripetal force for the Moche, members of the elite class likely used it to reinforce their status. Other ideological, economic, political, and social factors may have also been leveraged to similar ends. A common approach to maintaining power

7482-529: Was the source of wealth and foundation of the empire, the Moche culture emphasized the importance of circulation and flow. Expanding upon this, Moche artwork frequently depicted the passage of fluids, particularly life fluids through vulnerable human orifices. There are countless images of defeated warriors losing life fluids through their nose, or helpless victims getting their eyes torn out by birds or captors. Images of captive sex-slaves with gaping orifices and leaking fluids portray extreme exposure, humiliation, and

7569-529: Was usually made of limestone, granite or basalt and some were plated with electrum . Ancient Egyptians built pyramids from 2700 BC until around 1700 BC. The first pyramid was erected during the Third Dynasty by the Pharaoh Djoser and his architect Imhotep . This step pyramid consisted of six stacked mastabas . Early kings such as Snefru built pyramids, with subsequent kings adding to

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