Huaca de la Luna Plaza 1 Mural by fabio esteban amador

At the height of the Moche or Mochica Culture, (100 to 800 A.D.) a series of temples in the Moche valley on the Northern coast of Peru were built. Huaca de la Luna is at the center of the Moche culture and it played a significant role as a center of power and possibly built to honor Aiapaec, God of the mountain. The leaders spent much time and effort in decorating all surfaces with depictions of their god, their origin, battles, and rituals. One can only imagine what an impressive place it must have been. Although there is no "writing" associated with the Moche culture, they expressed themselves in a complex language that used motifs from their world, animals, plants, and fantastic characters to tell their story and legitimize their power.

On the Northeast corner of the central plaza of Huaca de la Luna stands a ceremonial space with an enclosure. The exterior of the ceremonial space is decorated with a very complex three-dimensional mural that is yet to be deciphered. This mural is perhaps the best preserved mural in the entire Moche Valley. Although the study of the mural is still in process, we can see various motifs that are redundant in Moche iconography and associated to warfare, ritual, human sacrifice and scenes from the human experience such as net fishing, warriors at battle, captives, and goldsmiths at their shop. There are also plenty of elements representing nature including land and ocean animals and plants.

Fabio Esteban Amador