The Moche people unified a section of the northern coastal area of the Central Andes region, spreading a unique culture. It is believed that the Moche imposed strict political and administrative rule upon outlying regions, governing through local headquarters or capitals. The Moche prospered for several hundred years by skillfully manipulating scarce water sources, but they lived under the constant threat of natural disasters--earthquakes and the legendary El Nino that periodically ravaged their lands with floods and droughts. The Moche are best known for their beautiful artwork--and for their grisly practices in human sacrifice. Their artwork often depicts events and people that correspond to their actual history. From artifacts (items made or used by humans, such as tools or weapons), archaeologists have put together a profile of the way the Moche state operated, and most conclude that the Moche state had many of the important features that characterize civilization: social classes, specialized large-scale production of a number of goods, dense populations, trade, political organization, and regional administrative centers throughout the state.

After the fall of the Chavin in about 200 B.C.E., the people of the Central Andes lost much of the unity that the Chavin culture had provided. Separated by threatening mountain peaks, they lived in isolation in many different river valleys, where they organized small, independent governments. At this time, the coastal population grew. The rivers were an important source of the population growth in the desert-like coastal plains, and new methods of irrigation brought the water where it was needed. The irrigation systems consisted of canals that were carved from the rivers at carefully chosen points to deliver the maximum amount of water to prepared fields on the desert plains.

By using every drop of water available and exploiting the resources of the sea by fishing, hunting the small sea animals and birds, and gathering shellfish and seaweed, the people who preceded the Moche were able to produce abundant food and accommodate large populations within each valley. However, there was no central ruling power that could coordinate the use of the limited water supply, and it was difficult to ensure that the water in each valley was being used wisely and fairly and not stolen or diverted by intruders from other valleys. In fact, during this era, conflict among the Moche leaders (usually referred to as Moche lords by scholars) of the different valleys grew, probably over the use of water sources. By about 1 C.E., armies developed in the valley communities, and some towns put up defensive walls in preparation for attack. Military actions became widespread in the northern coastal region.

Within the valleys, chiefdoms arose. Most chiefdoms supported a small but powerful group of nobles, or elite, who enjoyed many privileges that common workers did not. From the lavish burial chambers of the elite it is clear that some nobles were extremely wealthy, even in the early years of the Moche state. The simple burials of the commoners indicate more meager circumstances for the majority. The political leaders within the valleys were often priests. The people of the valleys expected their leaders to provide more than political guidance; they expected them to negotiate with the gods--that is, to ask the gods for adequate rain and protection from earthquakes and floods. In return, the common people were willing to work for the state. Local communities put together gangs of workers who would spend a portion of the year doing public jobs. These jobs included maintaining the irrigation canals, making adobes, or building huacas, the ceremonial centers that ranged from small public buildings to some of the biggest pyramids ever built in the Americas.

By about 100 B.C.E., in the far northern coastal plains, the Gallinazo, predecessors of the Moche, had settled in the Moche Valley. They built some cities in the mid-valley areas, particularly in the Viru Valley. During their reign, the population in the northern valleys increased significantly. The Gallinazo became master adobe makers and built huge adobe ceremonial mounds. They were probably responsible for beginning the construction of Huaca de la Luna (Shrine of the Moon) at Cerro Blanco, the site that became the capital of the Moche state.

Around the time that construction of Huaca de la Luna began, leaders in the Moche River valley and in the Chicama River valley united and formed a single state. This was the beginning of the Moche culture, which then quickly spread throughout the northern region. For many years, historians believed that the whole Moche state was ruled from Cerro Blanco. However, evidence of independent rule in the north has made them revise their theory. They now believe that the valleys in the southern part of the Moche state were directly ruled from Huaca del Sol in Cerro Blanco. The Moche may have conquered the people in these valleys, or they may have persuaded local leaders (through gifts, threats, or intermarriages) to join the Moche state. To impose their rule in the southern region, Moche leaders set up administrative centers in each southern valley. In the north, though, it seems that there were several centers of government and that the Moche established a form of indirect rule through local leaders.

Archaeologists are unclear about the religious practices of the Moche. Moche ceramic designs present many different gods. One of the most often depicted gods is an active god who may have lived among the Moche people. Some gods were thought to live far off in the spirit world, removed from the daily concerns of humans. Moche artists depict this god with a feline (catlike) mouth and a headdress formed of sunbeams radiating out from the head. The Moche relied on this god to send them sun, rain, and healthy crops.

Religion and politics were completely intertwined in the Moche culture. While exercising political power and gaining new territories, Moche leaders also built temples and staged rituals that were believed to protect the people. These leaders were more than priests in their ritual function; they became godlike in their promise to intervene, or get involved to help change events, in the supernatural world. They acted as intermediaries, or middlemen, between the common people and the gods. Scholars call the Moche rulers warrior-priests because they had both military and religious functions. Wearing elaborate ceremonial costumes, which were painstakingly crafted out of gold and other precious stones and metals, the warrior-priests held tremendous authority. To many Moche people, their rulers probably seemed to be gods themselves.

Many artisans, traders, and administrators lived in the cities surrounding the great Moche pyramids, but most Moche people were farmers and fishermen. The key to the Moche economy was water. Irrigation canals diverted streams from the rivers out into an expansive patchwork of agricultural fields. There the Moche grew corn, beans, potatoes, squash, chili peppers, and other food crops. There were many fields set aside for cotton as well; textiles were a major Moche product. Over time the network of canals became complex. The canal system required regular maintenance, so farmers who needed water for their crops would join labor gangs and do the maintenance work in exchange for irrigation water. Having rights to water sources, obtained through military force or perhaps simply by being the first to tap into the source and divert it, could make people and their communities very powerful. Conflicts erupted when the lord of one valley tried to use a water supply controlled by the lord of another valley. Tensions over water increased as the valleys became more and more crowded.

Though the land was very dry, the Moche's coastal location provided some very useful resources. Farming in the desert required fertilizer, or plant food. Moche men took boats made of reeds out to the islands off the northern coast to obtain seabird droppings called guano, which they spread over their fields as a highly effective fertilizer. With water and fertilizer, they were able to produce abundant crops. Along the coast, anchovies (small fishes resembling herrings) were abundant, and the Moche usually caught them in large nets. Anchovies could be dried and traded to the people in the highlands, adding needed protein to their diets.

From 563 to 594 C.E. a drought wasted the lands between the Pacific Ocean and the Andes Mountains. With less water, the Moche farms produced significantly less food, causing extreme distress as the people struggled to survive. The drought also led to long-term political insecurity, as the Moche probably began to question the power of their leaders to protect them. Scientists believe that an earthquake may have occurred at some point after the drought, perhaps in about 650 C.E. The earthquake would have caused landslides, possibly blocking the canals. Sand from the sea was probably washed ashore, forming huge sand dunes that covered coastal villages. Experts believe that sometime after these disasters, heavy rains hit the area. The rain created a terrible flood, with the rivers raging down the mountainsides, washing out canals and destroying the Moche fields and crops.

For years the Moche people had brought offerings to their warrior-priests, trusting them to intervene in the supernatural world and protect them from natural disasters; now it seemed that the warrior-priests had failed them. Most historians think the Moche people rose up against the warrior-priests because archaeological evidence shows that large parts of Pampa Grande were burned and that the city was then abandoned. Other experts believe that the Wari people from the east invaded the city and were responsible for this final destruction. In any case, the end of the Moche state had arrived.

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