MOCHICA PEOPLE.

On the North coast of Peru, an ancient civilization -the Mochica- is renowned for its art, especially elaborately painted and modeled ceramic, gold work, monumental constructions (Huacas), and complex irrigation systems.
The Mochicas were very sophisticated and their artifacts express their lives with detailed scenes of hunting, fishing, sacrifice, sexual encounters and elaborate ceremonies.
The Mochicas were stratified into at least three levels of mentality. At the bottom were the commoners who carried out farming, fishing, and various required labors; at the top were the religious leaders and the royal families, and in between was the large urban middle class. It would seem that Mochica society was patriarchal, with males making many of the important decisions and serving as rulers. Tombs of some of the elite class, sometimes identified as priests, warriors, or rulers, have been excavated at sites as Two Heads (Dos Cabezas), Dark Hill (Loma Negra), Sipan, Ucupe, and other localities in the North Mochica region. In the Southern Mochica sphere, some elite tombs were also discovered at Huacas of Moche, as well as at The Wizard (El Brujo), though most of the contents of the tombs at these sites are gone.
In 1987 at the site of Sipan, an exceedingly rich tomb within a large architectural complex called Huaca Rajada (Broken Huaca), was found. The dead were entombed in the 3rd century CE below an eroded pyramid. In the first tomb, over 1000 Mochica pots and the burial of a seated male whose feet had been removed, were found. Below this layer was a 5 by 5 meter tomb containing the burial of an individual who has become known as the Lord of Sipan. This adult male wore richly decorated Mochica clothing, a crescent-shaped headdress of gold, a face mask of the same material, jewelry of gold and turquoise, and metal plates (of gold and silver) meant to protect his body. He carried a scepter also made of gold, and within the tomb were many objects made of gold, silver, shells, textiles, feathers, and other precious materials. These tomb contents are depicted on Mochica ceramics in scenes where such an individual presides over religious ceremonies. Along with the befooted man were six other burials: two males that flanked the main burial; a child was laid at the head of the tomb; three women were either at the feet or head in small coffins made of wood or cane. Food, in the form of meat and liquids, was also placed in the tomb. Another couple of tombs also displayed the wealth of the Mochica people. A male burial dubbed "the Priest," held a cup and also wore a headdress and a necklace of gold fashioned into beads with human faces in a variety of expressions. A befooted man also accompanied this burial as did two women.
The Mochicas engaged in ritual combat, in almost a gladiator style warfare in which two warriors of opposing sides fought literally to death. Most likely that warfare for both, religious and political reasons existed in the Mochica world. Ritualized warfare and the blood of the vanquished, whether foreign or natural, fed the gods and the rulers in the supernatural world. Religion and warfare were clearly hand-in-hand.
Mochica religion was very complex, evidenced by the Mochica deities depicted on vessels and murals.
They are generally anthropomorphic but often combine human and animal characteristics, representing priests wearing animal garb at ceremonies or the deities themselves. One of the most important being was the Decapitator god, a human/spider combination, responsible for human affairs and sacrificial offerings. Possibly priests, or even the ruler, were the medium by which this entity impersonated itself through the use of powerful herbs, at the sacrificial rituals. Other deities were associated with the burial of very important rulers: the Snake-Belt god, the Iguana god, and at least one female goddess of the moon. Other supernatural forces had animal forms and seem to accompany the anthropomorphic gods in their duties and ceremonies. The clear message is that rulers were closely tied to the gods, and they and their priests assumed the mantle of the god's powers during important religious ceremonies.
The Huaca del Sol, a pyramidal adobe structure on the Rio Moche, is the the largest pre-Inca structure that belonged to the Mochicas in Peru. It was partly destroyed and looted when the Europeans came to disgrace the religious value of the Mochica graves for the sake of gold in the 16th century. The nearby Huaca de la Luna is better preserved. Its interior walls still contains many colorful murals with complex iconography.
Moche's commoners were an agriculturally based society, with a significant level of intelligence invested in the construction of a network of irrigation canals for the diversion of river water to supply their crops. The sophisticated irrigation system is the reflection of what was cultivated in their collective minds. The system ensured sufficient harvests. The environmental change was certainty one of the factors that caused a major instability in their survival process.
An analysis on the traditional folk healing process placed in many of its ceramics suggests that religious control of craft production allowed the projection of every specific knowledge needed in order to maintain a harmonic use of the power of healing. Strategies were very complex in achieving this purpose.