Lost Civilizations: The Moche
Source: Explore By Yourself
As brutal as they were beautiful, during 100BCE the Peruvian Moche civilization was responsible for creating intricately complex canals and pyramids that enabled them to live off the land. With no written language or way of preserving their history, archeologists have had to piece together their existence through a series of uncovered artifacts and incredibly crafted monuments that leave the civilization entrenched in mystery.
Source: Blogspot
Although the Moche didn’t inscribe their history, they found their own way of passing down their craft tofollowing generations through ceramic pottery. Moche pottery is said to be among the most varied in the world, and they were among the first civilizations to create molds that enabled them to produce pieces en masse. Incredibly, the red and white pots that have been unearthed seem to document important social changes of the time like war and celebration days; forming a kind of unwritten physical history.
Source: Curation International
However, it is the brutality of the civilization which has really attracted the attention of historians and archeologists. While they were remarkably creative and artistic, the Moche were prone to participating in extreme religious ceremonies that often ended in human sacrifice. Archeologists have discovered the remains of a woman believed to be the High Priestess of the Moche in an underground tomb with bodies of sacrificed children keeping her corpse company.
Source: Huffington Post
The High Priestess was said to rule by physical force, and if there was a disagreement among the settlement, instead of a trial, disputing parties would take part in a ritualized combat to the death. Historians are still trying to solve the riddle of the Moche, but it’s thought that they were killed by the El Niño weather effect El Niño, which causes both extreme floods and droughts and would have been enough to wipe out an entire civilization.
