UNIVERSIDAD PEDRO RUIZ GALLO

name : YORDY JAIRO CRUZ VASQUEZ

GERARDO GALVEZ RODRIGUEZ
ROSA AMELIA VERA MELENDEZ

teacher: JOVANNA MORALES ROJAS

Theme: Describing the Mochica Culture.

MOCHICA

CULTURE
 The Mochica Culture

• The Moche culture is an

archaeological culture of
Ancient Peru that developed
between the 2nd and 5th
centuries in the Moche River
Valley (current province of
Trujillo, in the department of La
Libertad).
 Social and Political Organization
• A culture as large and diversified as the Mochica culture must have had a complex political
organization. The nation was theocratic organization, in its decline it was absorbed by the
Chimú people.
• Administratively, the territory of the Mochica culture was divided into at least two large
regions which interacted with each other. As in other cultures, political administration,
worship, and religion were strongly linked, to the degree that each governor was also a priest
or religious authority. In fact, the famous Lord of Sipan must have had this double power. The
monuments of the time had a triple function administrative, religious and governmental center.
• For the ruling elite: tombs decorated with ceramic and metal objects, mainly gold and copper
such as that of the Lord of Sipan.
 Social and Political Organization
• The common tombs: With a limited
number of metal and ceramic objects,
these correspond to the administrators
and craftsmen of the ruling elite.
• Simple burial: With a very limited
decoration. According to the
investigations, it could be from the
farmers and fishermen, since it fits the
producers in the area.
 GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION AND TIME

• The Mochica culture developed between AD 100 and 700, in the valley of
the Moche River (Trujillo). Walter Alva discovered the tomb of the Lord
of Sipán in 1987, in Huaca Rajada, after evicting the huaqueros.
• The Mochica or Moche Culture, stand out in its ceramics considered the
best in ancient Peru as well as in its architecture represented in the Huaca
del Sol and de la Luna, it was a society in South America, with cities,
temples, canals and farms located along the arid coast in a narrow strip.
 Economic Activities
• They practiced fishing in
«Caballitos de Totora (a technique
that currently subsists in Huanchaco
and Pimentel). They also
demonstrated that they had a great
technique in agriculture by using
irrigation channels for growing
food such as cassava, cucumber,
corn, lucuma, squash, etc. in the
same
 CERAMICS

• The most impressive artistic manifestation for its creativity and

aesthetic sense. Throughout their history, the potters of the
Mochica culture relied on three dimensional deities, human
beings, animals and plants. But perhaps, the "Huaco Portrait"
was where they achieved the highest marks.
• It reached its greatest development in ceramics, with only two
colors, characteristics that reflect religious, mythological and
everyday life scenes; Pictorial iconography in pots that show
fighting, erotic encounters, funerals, human sacrifices, etc. It
constitutes the best quality pottery among all the ancient
Peruvian cultures, in addition to being only comparable to
Greek pottery and other cultures of its time.
• They used gold, silver, copper, and their alloys.
 ARCHITECTURE
•
They do not have an urban planning system, but
they left two pyramidal huacas of important
colossal dimensions, the "Huaca del Sol" and
the "Huaca de la Luna" in Moche, near Trujillo,
using their adobe mud architecture that affects
the Largest manufacturer brand, and recent
discovery of «El Brujo» in which not very well-
known architectural and artistic features are
found. Great command in the construction of
irrigation canals, which is still used in the
Chicama Valley.
 Religion
• Their main god was Ai apaec, a supernatural being
represented by a human figure with the mouth of a
tusk tiger. One of the most important aspects of the
Mochica culture religion was human sacrifice. There
were complex rituals like the one a priestess of the
owl god offered prisoners of war.
• Being gods, punishers, their representation of the
decapitating gods was very common, in addition to
the main God, Ai Apaec, they worshiped the sun
and the moon.
 Describing clothes of the Mochica Culture

Mochica clothing varied according to

gender; women wore only a T-shirt; the
men, on the other hand exhibited a long
cape more complete, consisting of a
loincloth, a sleeveless shirt and another
with short sleeves. Both women and
men lacked footwear, instead they were
lavish in decorations, the earrings being
women´s own and the nasal decoration,
the ear muffs and neckaces, thoses of
men.