A visit to Huaca de la Luna

It was Thursday, August 7^th, I woke up feeling a bit startled by a strange dream I had round about dawn, and wondered what it may mean. However, soon those worries disappeared and a different feeling began to grow up in my heart as the time in the morning was passing. Around 11:45 a.m. a taxi was in front of my house waiting for the passengers it would take for a ride at that time.

My mom, my favourite aunt, my sister, my two little twin nieces, and I were very excited for this was not going to be just another ordinary trip, but a journey to the religious centre of the ancient Moche culture: Huaca de la Luna. It is in the Moche valley, 8 kilometers to the south of Trujillo city, in Peru. We arrived after about fifteen minutes, and had to buy tickets. As a person told us, the tickets had to be bought at Museo Huacas de Moche, which is a museum situated a few meters off Huaca de la Luna. So, I had to go there on my own to get the tickets, while my relatives stayed by the entrance to the archaeological complex looking at some souvenirs.

When I finally got the tickets, we had to wait for a tourist guide to come to lead us through the visit. He led us up a sloping and winding road with some steps every few meters to a rear entrance to the Huaca. As soon as we began the guided tour, he told us about the story of the great people called the Moche, who came into existence in the second century AD, and informed us that while Huaca de la Luna was the religious centre of this culture, Huaca del Sol was its political centre. Huaca de La Luna, which was a temple made of adobe bricks, is situated close to a mountain called Cerro Blanco and consists of five levels or storyes that were constructed one above another, being the higher ones smaller than their predecessors and so the final building had the form of a pyramid.

Huaca del Sol

                                

Interior of Huaca de la Luna

                                                        

In one of the lowest storyes there is a great wall with a mural depicting the Moche god, the god of the mountain. It is believed the Moche priests performed human sacrifices in Huaca de la Luna to this god, called Ai Apaec, in order to appease his wrath and thus stop floods and droughts. It is interesting the images of this god on the mural are representations of his head and face only. He is shown with big eyes (supposedly being based on the eyes of an owl), a human nose, and feline teeth. This head is surrounded by wavy figures that, according to the tourist guide, are an octopus’ tentacles.

Mural with Moche god

Moche god, Ai Apaec

In another floor there is a mural where, among other figures, the guide stated a Peruvian dog is depicted, although in my opinion it appears to be a fox for the tail of a Peruvian dog is thinner than the one belonging to the animal depicted on the mural. This unique dog lacks fur and its skin is warm, for this reason it is called perro calato (naked dog) in Peru; these features are very attractive for people who want to have a dog but cannot because they are allergic to animals’ fur. This breed of dog is named Viringo, and was regarded as a sacred animal by the ancient people of the Moche culture. It is said these animals are good for helping ill people to recover, particularly if they suffer from asthma. By the way, in the Huaca de la Luna archaeological complex two Viringo dogs are kept: a male and a female.

Mural depicting a Peruvian dog

Detail of the previous mural showing the Peruvian dog

Female Viringo dog (Peruvian dog)

Several cultures fostered in Peru before the Incas, and among them the Moche culture is one which shows remarkable developments in architecture, ceramics, and metalwork; and continues to thrill and amaze archaeologists and anthropologists all over the world, particularly when studying the religious beliefs and practices of these ancient people. I encourage all the readers of this blog post to come and visit my country, Peru, especially Trujillo city and the Moche valley, where you can still find warm and friendly people, whose ability in ceramics and their delicious cuisine can be traced back to their ancestors, the Moche.