The Early Intermediate Period: Moche

Andean Archaeology and Ethnohistory - Anthro 490.3: Class 13

The Early Intermediate Period: What did the Moche rulers rule?

ã Copyright Bruce Owen 2003

The End of the Early Horizon

around 300-200 cal BC
Chavín religious ideas and temples were abandoned

some public buildings left unfinished

one late Chavín sculpture left unfinished
some sites just abandoned
others "leveled" for residential development

mundane residences were built among and over the ceremonial structures

Chavín de Huántar

a small village right in the sunken circular court
carved stones used along with plain ones to build house walls
the temple ceased to be maintained; when parts of the façade collapsed, the sculptures fell forward and were allowed to just lie there

similar shift from sacred public spaces to mundane residences at Kotosh, Huaricoto, Kuntur Wasi, Pacopampa, and other sites

ending sacred uses of places that had been ritual centers for centuries or even millennia

local styles of pottery developed, now much more varied than during the Early Horizon

Burger suggests that the change in pottery styles looks like "stylistic disruption and replacement", not gradual evolutionary change

indicates a rejection of Chavín ideas?
but can't tell whether this is a change that took years, or a century or more

variable ceramic styles may indicate less interaction between neighboring groups
possibly more intentional maintenance of inter-group boundaries

apparent rise of inter-group conflict and violence

widespread construction of hilltop fortresses

in both the highlands and the coast
analogous to the end of the coastal Initial Period
In fact, you will notice that Moseley puts Chanquillo at the end of the Early Horizon, not the beginning, as Burger does

Burger's point of view

considers the earlier "fortresses" in the Casma, Santa, and Nepeña valleys to indicate an early bout of conflict at the dawn of the Early Horizon
and the later ones in a more extensive area including the Viru, Moche, and Chicama coastal valleys and the northern highlands to represent a second bout of conflict at the end of the Early Horizon

Moseley's point of view

considers the differing dates of fortress construction to reflect an ongoing pattern in which the smaller valleys become crowded and begin to fight first
and the larger valleys and highland areas reach that point later

these could both be correct; they are not mutually exclusive

an immediately post-Chavín (Salinar) cemetery on the coast has many burials lacking limbs or heads, a pattern not seen before

some decline in interregional exchange of cinnabar and obsidian

presumably due to interregional tensions, unsafe travel, etc.

Burger argues that the emergence of social stratification (presence of marked elites) during the Early Horizon meant that local societies could not just go back to their former ways as Chavín influence declined

The social rules had changed from the relatively egalitarian model of the Initial Period
now there were elites who would work to advance their own interests
group conflict was probably encouraged by competing elites and made more possible by their power

General overview of the Early Intermediate Period (EIP)

not the "early part of the Intermediate period"

There were two Intermediate periods, separated by the Middle Horizon
The Early Intermediate is the earlier of these two Intermideate periods

about 200 cal BC - 600 cal AD (conventional dates, as in Moseley)

Burger runs the Early Horizon up to 1 cal BC, overlapping with the beginning of the EIP
others put the conventional end date as 500 cal AD
recently, the Moche culture, one of the important EIP cultures, has been shown to have lasted to 700 to 800 cal AD
so drawing precise boundaries around the EIP is somewhat arbitrary

lots of regional variation
notable for the emergence of highly elaborated ceramics, metalwork, and other crafts in many wildly different styles

generally quite different from the Chavín styles that preceded them

general shift in iconography from supernatural to more (apparently) human-oriented themes

maybe indicating shift from cult-centered to elite-centered corporate art and architecture

emergence of complex chiefdoms and states

with obvious very high status elites
also administrators, various craft specialists, farmers and fishers...
ceramic, metal, and other production in formal workshops, some virtually factory-scale
very large-scale labor mobilization for big monuments
this happened in several distinct regions, with different traditions

North coast: Moche, our topic today
South coast: Nazca
Southern highlands: Chiripa and Pucara, leading up to Tiwanaku
and others...

Moseley attributes EIP developments to conflicts arising from to the filling up of easily farmed land by growing populations

many residential settlements were located on hillslopes or high ridges
access routes typically defended by walls or ditches
associated with walled hilltop fortresses

EIP fortresses, unlike earlier examples, were clearly related to real defense
often with piles of sling stones found inside the walls
but without water sources or much storage

apparently meant to deter raids, not sieges
short-term, small-scale conflict, not protracted conquest warfare

Moseley also reminds us that most people still lived in undefended settlements

or maybe there were sub-periods that we cannot distinguish during which people lived in defensible settlements, and others in which they didn't

Leading up to the Moche:

Salinar, immediately post-Chavín on north coast (~200 - 100 cal BC or later)

iconography derived from Chavín
may have been a period of conflict

most of the population shifted into the steeper, upper parts of the valleys

possibly seeking more defensible places to live
possibly to defend the intakes of their canals

many larger, defensible sites and fortresses

Bawden suggests that concentration of people and response to military threats led to increasing social complexity

in the Virú valley:

villages of 20-30 houses
many scattered, isolated houses
a few hilltop forts
rectangular compounds of around a dozen rooms
adobe compounds with courts, corridors, and rooms

apparently residences of high-status people

presumably local leaders

and also of metallurgists

"attached specialists"
lived in the same compounds as the elite
presumably producing goods to enhance the status of the elite
presumably supplied with materials, fed, housed, and compensated by surplus mobilized from local food producers by the elite

beginning of a pattern that became very marked among the Moche

in the Moche valley

Cerro Arena

big residential site, 2.5 square km (is this all Salinar??)
stone houses of ordinary farmers on a defensible rocky ridge

Gallinazo culture (by 100 cal BC in the Moche valley)

Moseley suggests that a state was first developed by people using Gallinazo style pottery

and that the corporate Moche style was developed after the state was established

by elites who wanted to mark and legitimize their status
and who had the power to support experts and craftspeople to do so

Bawden suggests that Gallinazo style art was in itself created by elites to "proclaim their identity" and status

relatively uniform Gallinazo pottery style (resist painted) in five neighboring major north coastal valleys

Santa - Chao - Viru - Moche - Chicama
suggests contact, shared culture, maybe alliances?
plus some Gallinazo monuments and pots all the way north to the Ecuadorian border

marked population growth (reaching all-time highs in Viru and Santa valleys)
more people lived in the lower parts of the valleys again
they irrigated large areas for farming in the fans at the valley mouths

using long canals starting at the valley necks
Bawden says the fact that Gallinazo sites were located closer to the sea indicates less need to stay in the steeper parts of the valleys for defense - that is, regional pacification
Moseley would say that it indicates technological development, maybe forced by population growth, that allowed them to build the longer, flatter canals needed to irrigate the wide valley mouths

shift in site size pattern

settlements became less defensible, suggesting regional unification

lower, more dispersed settlements

the pattern changed from relatively uniform-sized

presumably similar activities carried out at each
and presumably roughly equal in power

to a range of sizes

many small, rural settlements
some larger towns ("tertiary" or 3rd-level)
a few larger towns ("secondary centers)
one huge main site in each valley (several square km, although population estimates are still only in the "several thousands")

suggests a single, valley-wide organization in each valley

based at the largest site in each valley

drastic variation in residential architecture, suggesting marked status differences

commoner architecture

stone footings with cane walls

elite architecture

same in some places
but elsewhere (and for public buildings), adobe

monumental platforms built on the slopes of and on top of natural hills

mold-made adobe bricks
"segmented" construction

columns or layers of bricks
bonded and mortared within the layer
but just resting against adjacent ones
taken to suggest labor groups, maybe organized by village, ayllu, etc.

monuments were surrounded by settlements of up to 3,000 people

the immense "Gallinazo group" in the Viru valley may have been the center of a polity that united multiple valleys

because no other valley has any comparably large site
covers over 8 square kilometers with platform mounds, plazas, and dense areas of residences
some rich burials
probably the center of a pan-valley polity; some have suggested a multi-valley polity
but probably most valleys were separate political units or sets of units

The Moche (same as Mochica) (about 1 to around 800 cal AD)

chronology is debated, variable in different valleys... (are you surprised?)
Moche art and architecture arose in what was otherwise just the continuing Gallinazo society

Moseley and Bawden suggest that Moche art and architecture express an ideology and corporate style created and used by elites of certain Gallinazo groups

that is, a form of propaganda or supernatural justification of their special position and their demands on the rest of the society
in response to unknown pressures, maybe having to do with a drastic, destructive flooding episode in some valleys

this ideology and associated iconography was adopted in various forms by some Gallinazo elite groups in other valleys, and not by others
the new Moche groups apparently conquered Gallinazo groups in some places, and coexisted with them in others

May have started, or been most successful, at Cerro Blanco (aka "Moche", "Huacas of Moche") in the Moche valley

initially a Gallinazo center
rose to prominence as the largest Moche center

the growth of Cerro Blanco was accompanied by the cultural and political unification of the Moche valley and the neighboring Chicama valley

Chicama is much bigger than Moche, yet the biggest, most important site is in the Moche valley
this multi-valley state was centered at Cerro Blanco
eventually unified (culturally, if not politically) most of the north coast
marriage alliance(s)?
religious or ritual success?
something else?

Site of Cerro Blanco (aka Moche)

Huaca del Sol and Huaca de la Luna

two huge adobe brick platforms with buildings on top

separated by a large space filled with courts, residences, workshops, and cemeteries
still over a square kilometer in area, originally more before Spanish destroyed an unknown fraction by diverting the Moche river to hydraulically mine the Huaca del Sol
Huaca del Sol

originally the largest structure of solid adobes ever built in the New World

and among the biggest three mounds of any type in the New World

only a part remains, because in 1602 the Moche river was diverted to hydraulic mine it
scant records indicate that they found royal burials with lots of gold
recent work also finds high-status burials with decorated ceramics and occasional small amounts of gold and copper
380 m long, 160 m wide, 40 m high (1,235 feet x 520 feet x 130 feet)
estimated over 143 million adobe bricks
built in the columns mentioned above, bricks in each column have a distinctive mark
over 100 such marks known, suggests over 100 communities helped build it
had complexes of rooms on top

including courts, corridors, rooms that accumulated refuse

that is, not kept ritually clean like earlier monuments
probably relatively ordinary activities by lots of people

built with adobe walls and wooden poles that probably held up thatched roofs
often with ceramic architectural ornaments (birds, war clubs, etc.) along the ridges or eaves

known both from artistic representations and pieces that have been found in excavations

some were small, elevated, and contained a "throne"
conclusion: Huaca del Sol probably served some high-status but not mainly ritual function(s)

administration, taxation, land and water distribution, labor management, conflict resolution...?

rebuilt and enlarged over most of the span of Moche culture

Huaca de la Luna

Numerous painted relief murals
Unlike Huaca del Sol, kept clean

i.e. maybe more ritual use?

indications that a small number of high-status people lived in one area of the monument
Contained (at least) two high-status burials

with copper cups like those illustrated in the hands of "sacrificer" figures on pots
that is, these burials contain the exact paraphernalia that is shown in what might otherwise be taken to be purely mythological scenes on the ceramics
an even richer burial was looted in nineteenth century, with numerous gilt copper masks, etc.

And an area with layers of 35-40 sacrificed bodies

indicated by neck cutting trauma, random body positions
left out on the surface in open air when it was raining

that is, during a rare, disastrous El Niño event

This happened on a number of separate occasions
possibly the result of rituals shown on pottery, performed by the people in the high-status burials

Moseley suggests that the two huacas indicate dual organization

Huaca del Sol being the administrative and mortuary place for elites ("huaca sepultura")
and Huaca de la Luna being the ceremonial place ("huaca adoratorio")
but this is actually a functional difference, not the same as "dual organization", in which each monument would have a similar function for each of two ranked subdivisions of the population

between them, a large (500 m wide) space full of residences and craft shops

an urban center: completely different concept from earlier monumental centers that featured huge empty plazas
funerary platforms and ground-level high-status cemeteries
said to show three levels of residential quality
closest to Huaca de la Luna

on the slope of Cerro Blanco and towards the middle of the space
stone and adobe construction
storage bins and niches
more fancy goods: decorated pots, copper tweezers and knives, beads
suggestion that the most elite lived at Huaca de la Luna itself?

middle of space

similar but less fancy

closest to Huaca del Sol

small, irregular rooms of cane on stone and mortar bases
least fancy artifacts, less storage

Chapdelaine's findings:

dense, urban layout with straight streets at right angles
population of at least 5,000, probably more
large, walled many-roomed compounds with just one or a few doors to the street
at least some of these compounds seem to contain living quarters for several nuclear families
some seem to have specialized in certain crafts
but few fishing tools and no farming tools at all, even though they are very common at other Moche sites

suggests that much or all of the city was craft workers: a "middle class"
farmers and fishers may have lived in separate areas, on the outskirts, or in other towns altogether

highly variable burials in the residential area

Chapdelaine suggests that some burials with few goods in otherwise high-status households might have been servants...?

that is, evident social status differences:

highest status people, very few, lived right on the ritual monument of Huaca de la Luna
high status "middle class" lived closest to Huaca de la Luna
lowest status "middle class" lived closest to the secular administrative Huaca del Sol
lower class of farmers and fishers lived on outskirts or at other sites entirely

evidence of craft work

beads, raw material (lapis), and drills
metalwork

many copper objects with traces of gold finish
cylindrical furnace with chemical evidence of having been used to melt gold
ceramic tips for blowtubes used to increase heat of fires used for metalworking

ceramics (evidence is not specified)
maybe shell work
lots of spindle whorls (for spinning yarn for textiles), concentrated in some compounds and less in others
these crafts were mostly to make fancy items that would have been for the elite, not utilitarian goods

evidence of long-distance trade

Spondylus shell from Ecuador
lapis (a blue stone) from northern Chile (if it is really lapis)

While Cerro Blanco is the biggest, numerous other Moche sites also have big adobe platform mounds, often with painted relief murals
Moche art

sophisticated, highly standardized style (but lots of individual variation within it)

clearly implies manufacture by trained specialists

mold-made ceramics

sculptural ceramics

many are realistic human heads, so individualized that they are taken to represent specific people
recent work by Chris Donnan shows that most or all of these portraits represent the same few individuals, shown at all stages of life

were these real people, or highly specific myths?

ceramics with fine-line painting

iconography may represent parts of a set of myths

the parts would have implied the whole to people who knew the stories
like a baby in a manger or three wise men represent parts of the story of the birth of Christ
"Presentation theme"

a recurring scene in which a character called the "warrior priest", surrounded by other distinct and identifiable characters, receives blood from sacrificed prisoners in a goblet

more on Moche iconography later

Drastic variation in richness of burials

ordinary burials with nothing or just a few pots
medium-status burials

extended body in a cane casket
a few pots, sometimes other goods

high-status burials

such as the "Warrior Priest"
similar position and casket, but piles of pots, ornaments, staffs, etc.

Extremely rich burials at numerous Moche sites

some in platform mounds (although this was apparently not the main function of the mounds)

Looted from Huaca del Sol
Already mentioned at Huaca de la Luna
in small funerary mounds between the Cerro Blanco huacas

Sipán "royal" burials

several separate burials
in a mud-brick platform mound
lots of copper, silver, gold, ceramics, beadwork, human and animal sacrifices
specific burials correspond to specific figures depicted on Moche pots, based on unique ornaments and paraphernalia
thought to be specific ritual roles in ceremonies, occupied by a series of people like political offices

so far, two burials have been found of people who played the central figure's role

Other sites with similar burials

Señor de Sicán, similar
at San José de Moro, one burial was of a high-status woman, also clearly linked to a specific character shown on Moche pots

implications:

the scenes on Moche pots really happened, or if mythical, were reenacted in reality by the people in these tombs
these people presumably comprised a powerful ruling class, based on or supported by their religious roles
they must have commanded huge resources of skilled labor and food production to produce the things in their tombs and elsewhere

large-scale specialized production

inferred from great quantities of very fine craft goods
and from actual workshops found at several sites
Cerro Mayal, at Mocollope:

industrial-scale pottery factory with molds, kilns, piles of ash and misfired potsherds meters deep...

copper processing and fabrication shops

special furnaces for smelting copper
special grinding stones for breaking up slag to get the copper droplets out
metalworking shops with polished stone tools
pot that illustrates a hearth with a copper axe in it being operated by four men

weaving centers shown on ceramics, maybe one found at Pampa Grande

all these elites and the craftspeople who made stuff for them must have been supported by surpluses generated largely by farming

large, planned field complexes, some with regularly-spaced mounds thought to have been for administrative purposes

uniform-sized rectangular plots

dependent upon water delivered by gigantic canal systems

one of which actually brought water from the Chicama valley to the Moche valley

more total area irrigated in Moche III and IV than ever again until this century (and some Moche field areas still have not been reclaimed)
this agricultural system must have been built and operated under the direction of an overseeing authority: the Moche state

which would have gotten a share of the product to support its activities

but note: these planned farms appeared no earlier than 300 AD (Moche III), well after both Gallinazo and Moche were established

so administered farming would have contributed to increasing complexity, but not to its beginning

Warfare

debated how much was "real" and how much was ritualized
iconography

on pots and big murals
maces, shields, battle scenes, bound prisoners being shown to an enthroned figure, sacrifices
but some suggest that the hand-to-hand battle of overdressed warriors may be ritual, not literally warfare in our sense

weapons in burials

spear throwers, spear heads, maces, decorative armor, etc.
again, mostly highly decorated, maybe more for imagery than heavy use

some ceremonial and high-status areas are surrounded by walls

for defense, or to restrict access for social reasons?

but once Moche style was well established, defensible sites went out of use

ineffective against a standing army?
maybe the Moche state forced people to abandon them, as the Inka did?

Writing: none
Moche expansion

Moche style ceramics, etc. are found on most of the North Coast of Peru

plus offshore islands, even far to the south

whether this represents several separate polities, or one unified state, how it evolved, etc. is hotly debated
Moseley suggests that the large valleys of the northern area were indirectly ruled, through existing elites, while the smaller valleys of the southern area were directly ruled after military conquest, with the imposition of state centers and administrators

Bawden elaborates on how the "rise of Moche" was the result of the use of ideology by elites

he sees a contradiction between

traditional Andean social organization based on community membership, consensus, authority based on kinship, especially closeness to specific (maybe mythical) revered ancestors

"holistic ideology"

and individual, exclusive elite power

"individualizing ideology"

so emerging elites have to justify themselves, make their role seem appropriate
they do this through creating authority based on myth and public ritual, in which they assume shamanistic roles

and by making a big deal of funerals, thus projecting their status into the supernatural realm

the elites maintained exclusive control over the manufacture and use of objects symbolic of high status

supporting a huge staff of craft specialists to do so
thus requiring more agricultural production under their control
this required the smaller valleys to unite and conquer their neighbors to the south
the northern valleys had enough resources that this was not necessary for them
so Bawden sees the northern valley elites as remaining more religiously-based, with their status secure as occupiers of ritual roles
while the southern valley elites (particularly at Cerro Blanco) became more secular and "individualizing" because they had to control a military and administer a small empire in order to maintain their status
which is why the southern valleys began producing portrait vessels, which were never common in the north

these expressed the importance of individuals, rather than ritual roles
and were used almost exclusively in burials, which were opportunities to highlight the importance of individuals and their successors

Bawden's view of "the southern Moche polity of the Middle Period"

we will take this to stand for "typical Moche", although Bawden's whole point is that different parts of the North coast developed differently
by 300 cal AD, Bawden sees

the Moche and Chicama central area

unified by a single political leadership, based on the ritual role of the elite

in the larger valleys to the north

elites in some Gallinazo groups had successfully adopted the Moche ideology, other Gallinazo groups resisted it
resulting in a patchwork of contemporary groups, possibly with different political structures

in the smaller valleys to the south

the Moche ideology had not taken hold; the people were still basicly Gallinazo without the new ideology and exaggerated elites

although the huaca del Sol and Huaca de la Luna were started earlier, Bawden puts most of the construction in his "Middle Period"
maximum expansion of the canal system occurred at this time
lots of platform complexes, workshops, etc. in both valleys (Moche and Chicama)
the Moche-Chicama polity based at Cerro Blanco set about conquering the southern valleys

because the resources of these two valleys were insufficient to maintain the elites in the style that they desired

while this did not happen to the north, were the valleys were big enough

Bawden argues that they did not then impose administrative centers, barracks, etc.
instead, they built ritual centers that would have legitimated the Moche leaders through their supernatural roles in ritual

but Bawden argues that in the long run, without formal administration, standing military, etc. they could not maintain the legitimacy of their rule over such a large area in the face of the communal Andean ideology

so the multi-valley state collapsed; Cerro Blanco lost power and was being abandoned by around 700 cal AD

there could be other explanations for this decline, of course...

the Moche elite apparently retrenched to a new center: Galindo
which was even more sharply divided into sectors occupied by different classes, separated by tall adobe walls
but this arrangement lasted only a few generations at most
Galindo, and with it Moche, lasted only until perhaps 800 cal AD