Huaca de la Luna
Huaca de la Luna Shown within Peru Huaca de la Luna Huaca de la Luna (South America) | |
Click on the map for a fullscreen view | |
| Location | Moche District, Trujillo Province, La Libertad Region, Peru |
|---|---|
| Region | Moche valley (North of Peru) |
| Coordinates | 8°08′06″S 78°59′29″W / 8.135°S 78.9914°W |
| Altitude | 41 m (135 ft) |
| Type | Settlement |
| Part of | Huacas of Moche |
| History | |
| Builder | Moche culture |
| Material | Adobe |
| Periods | Early Intermediate |
| Cultures | Moche |
| Site notes | |
| Ownership | Peruvian Government |
| Public access | Yes |
Huaca de la Luna ("Temple or Shrine of the Moon") is a large adobe brick structure built mainly by the Moche people of northern Peru.[1] It sits roughly 5 kilometers from the Pacific Ocean, 4 km from the modern city of Trujillo, and near the mouth of the Moche River. The site was inhabited between the 1st and 9th century AD. Along with Huaca del Sol, Huaca de la Luna is part of Huacas de Moche.[2] The Huacas are major components of the ancient Moche capital city of Cerro Blanco.
Background
The Huaca de la Luna, although it is the smaller of the two huacas at the site, has yielded the most archaeological information. Although Huaca del Sol was partially destroyed and looted by Spanish conquistadors in the seventeenth century, Huaca de la Luna was left relatively untouched. Archeologists believe that the Huaca del Sol may have served for administrative, military, and residential functions, as well as a burial mound for the Moche elite. Huaca de la Luna served primarily a ceremonial and religious function[3], although it contains burials as well.
The Huaca de la Luna is a large complex of three main platforms, each one serving a different function. The northernmost platform, at one time brightly decorated with a variety of murals and reliefs, was destroyed by looters. The surviving central and southeastern platforms have been the focus of most excavations. Platform I has yielded multiple high-status burials. Evidence of human sacrifices have also been found extensively at Huaca de la Luna.[4]
Structure
Layout
The site is composed of three pyramids and several plazas. The largest is Platform I, with a height of 30 meters. Excavation has revealed that a new platform was constructed over an old one every 100 years for six centuries. Due north of Platform I is Plaza 1. It is a large, low, open space, and was likely used to hold large crowds during significant events. East of Plaza 1 and northeast of Platform I is Plaza 2. It is smaller and higher than Plaza 1, but overlooks the same space; this is indicative of some form of social stratification. Directly east of Platform I are Plazas 3A, 3B, and 3C. They are interconnected and the closest in elevation to Platform I of any of the plazas. Human sacrifices were practiced in Plazas 3A/B/C. East of Plaza 3A is the much smaller Platform II. North of Platform II, sits Platform III.[5] It is unknown what function these portions of the site served.[6]
Materials
Huaca de la Luna, was construced from adobe bricks. Adjacent adobes are similar in size, and all are wider than they are tall.[7] Many of the adobes have one of 128 distinct markings, identifying which of the surrounding communities produced each brick.[8] Adorning interior walls of the site are 10,000 square meters of polychromatic murals. The polychromatic paints and pigments used by the Moche are derived from minerals such as hematite (red) and clay (white), and organic sources.[2] Depictions of the Moche deity Ai-Apaec, also known as Ayapec, are common. Ayapec is a Muchik word translating as all knowing.[a]
Religious and Sacrificial Usages of Huaca de la Luna
Sacrifices
The eastern platform, black rock, and adjacent patios were the sites of human sacrifice rituals. Human sacrifice rituals were likely more complex than previously thought, and likely were done for two main fertility rituals: agrarian (crop prosperity and natural disasters, and social (wartime) motivated sacrifices.[9] These are depicted in a variety of Moche graphic representations, most notably painted ceramics. The sacrifices differed in practice in accordance with their given purposes. Wartime sacrifices were often lower class, or captured prisoners of war. Researchers discovered multiple skeletons of adult males at the foot of the rock, all of whom show signs of trauma and imprisonment. Many had bone fractures, further indicating trauma during wartime, but the fatal injury was most often a severe blow to the head.[9] After the sacrifice, bodies of victims would be hurled over the side of the Huaca and left exposed in the patios. There is current debate on how these victims were obtained--whether through staged war games, actual combat between communities, or both. The reason for this is that while there is bioarchaeological evidence of warfare between multiple communities, and along with this, the lack of respect given to the bodied found (there was evidence that the bodies were not buried after death) could possibly indicate that they were fighters from other communities.[10] On the other hand, Moche sacrificial artwork and murals do not depict wartime victories over other groups, the soldiers fighting in the murals look relatively similar to each other.[11]
Ritual sacrifices with possible relation to the El Niño disaster
El Niño is characterized by long periods of flooding, followed by long periods of drought. This natural disaster greatly impacts Peruvian agriculture and life. Huaca de la Luna was greatly affected by these periods. [12] Archaeological evidence shows certain sacrifices that line up with specific El Niño periods. The dirt composition around the sacrifices could indicate that the bodies were buried in particularly muddy conditions, and may have been damaged/ shifted by floodwater.[1] These sacrificial rituals were done differently than the wartime mediated ones, with the cause of death most often being a clean cut to the neck, and the de-fleshing and presentation of the sacrifice.[9] There is also evidence of the sacrifice of children, possibly acting as offerings following the completion of a temple.[1] While many of the sacrifices line up with El Niño, there is no conclusive evidence that the ritual killings were done for El Niño-- that is to say that we cannot assume causation over correlation.
Huaca de La Luna in the modern day
Archaeological excavation began at the site in the 1990s following aerial photographic surveys of the site in the late 1980s. Wind had covered the site in sand, so the structure and interior of the pyramids are well preserved.[2]
The World Monuments Fund has been working at Huaca de la Luna to support needed conservation work. This includes ongoing assessments, documentation, stabilization, and consolidation of excavated architectural and decorative elements. Similarly, the Huaca del Sol y de la Luna project, has helped grow the Peruvian economy by creating jobs while also acting as a training ground for up and coming archaeologists and conservationists.[13]
See also
Notes
- ^ The name "Ayapec" or "Ai - Apaec" is a modern artifact. When Larco Hoyle asked his workers about how would be "the highest god" in Muchik, they answered him that it would be "Ai - Apaec". For that reason Larco Hoyle stated, that it was the name for the Moche supreme deity. He ignored also that in the pre-Columbian Moche Valley the spoken language was not Muchik, but Quingnam. "Wrinkle-Face" is the name given to another deity by the later Inca because of the deity's appearance.
References
- ^ a b c Benson, E.P.; Cook, A.G. (2001). Ritual sacrifice in ancient Peru. University of Texas Press. p. 211.
- ^ a b c Aguilar, Rafael; Pando, Miguel A.; Briceño, Carolina; Zavala, Guillermo; Castañeda, Benjamín; Perucchio, Renato; Uceda, Santiago (2018-11). "Structural and geotechnical engineering assessment of Huaca de la Luna – A massive earthen Moche culture pyramid in Northern Peru". Journal of Cultural Heritage. 34: 83–94. doi:10.1016/j.culher.2018.04.006. ISSN 1296-2074.
{{cite journal}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Wright, Véronique (2008). Étude de la polychromie des reliefs sur terre crue de la Huaca de la Luna Trujillo, Pérou. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press. ISBN 978-1-4073-0295-9.
- ^ Ritual Sacrifice in Ancient Peru. University of Texas Press. 2001. ISBN 978-0-292-79821-2.
- ^ Uceda, Santiago (2003), "El complejo arquitectónico religioso moche de Huaca de la Luna : una aproximación a su dinámica ocupacional", Moche: hacia el final del milenio: actas del Segundo Coloquio sobre la Cultura Moche, Trujillo, 1 al 7 de agosto de 1999, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, pp. 179–228, retrieved 2026-03-15
- ^ Tufinio, Moises (2008), "Huaca de la Luna : arquitectura y sacrificios humanos", Arqueología mochica: nuevos enfoques: actas del primer congreso internacional de jóvenes investigadores de la Cultura Mochica Lima, 4 y 5 de agosto de 2004, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, pp. 451–470, ISBN 978-9972-42-836-4, retrieved 2026-03-14
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: work parameter with ISBN (link) - ^ Hastings, C. Mansfield; Moseley, M. Edward (1975-04). "The Adobes of Huaca del Sol and Huaca de La Luna". American Antiquity. 40 (2Part1): 196–203. doi:10.2307/279615. ISSN 0002-7316.
{{cite journal}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Gili, María Laura (2010). "CIRCUITO ARQUEOLÓGICO DE LA LIBERTAD. CHAN CHAN, HUACA DE LA LUNA Y EL BRUJO. ASPECTOS Y RECOMENDACIONES" (PDF). ANTI. 9 (IX): 132–137 – via Internet Archive: Wayback Machine.
{{cite journal}}: line feed character in|title=at position 38 (help) - ^ a b c Uceda, Santiago (2008-12-31), "9. The Priests of the Bicephalus Arc: Tombs and Effigies Found in Huaca de la Luna and Their Relation to Moche Rituals", The Art and Archaeology of the Moche, University of Texas Press, pp. 153–178, retrieved 2026-03-11
- ^ Sutter, Richard C.; Cortez, Rosa J. "The Nature of Moche Human Sacrifice". Current Anthropology. 46 (4): 521–549. doi:10.1086/431527. ISSN 0011-3204.
{{cite journal}}: no-break space character in|first2=at position 5 (help); no-break space character in|first=at position 8 (help) - ^ Bourget, Steve (2016). Sacrifice, Violence, and Ideology Among the Moche: The Rise of Social Complexity in Ancient Peru. University of Texas Press. doi:10.7560/308738. ISBN 978-1-4773-0873-8.
- ^ Uceda Castillo, Santiago; Canziani Amico, José (1993). "Evidencias de grandes precipitaciones en diversas etapas constructivas de la Huaca de La Luna, costa norte del Perú". Bulletin de l’Institut Français d’Études Andines. 22 (1): 313–344. doi:10.3406/bifea.1993.1118.
- ^ Uceda, Santiago (2016), Underhill, Anne P.; Salazar, Lucy C. (eds.), "Huacas del Sol y de la Luna Project: Inclusion with Local and Regional Social Development", Finding Solutions for Protecting and Sharing Archaeological Heritage Resources, Cham: Springer International Publishing, pp. 121–133, doi:10.1007/978-3-319-20255-6_9, ISBN 978-3-319-20254-9, retrieved 2026-03-14
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: work parameter with ISBN (link)
- Art of the Andes, from Chavin to Inca. Rebecca Stone Miller, Thames and Hudson, 1995.
- The Incas and their Ancestors. Michael E. Moseley, Thames and Hudson, 1992.