Huaca de la Luna Plaza — Moche
Huaca de la Luna · Temple of the Moon · Luna Ritual Pyramid
Early Intermediate, c.400-600 CE (Moche)·Andean (Moche)·🇵🇪 La Libertad, Peru
About
About Huaca de la Luna Plaza — Moche
Huaca de la Luna at foot of Cerro Blanco (Moche, 5 km south Trujillo): 35 m high ritual pyramid-platform with 5 superimposed construction phases (each entombing earlier with fill) decorated with polychrome frieze of Decapitator deity (Ai Apaec) fanged, spider, and warrior processions. Excavated by Santiago Uceda-Ricardo Morales (Huaca de la Luna project 1991–): intact mural reliefs, sacrifice altar with skeletal remains, courtyard with 40 pelts. Ritual core paired with Huaca del Sol administrative palace. Captive sacrifice friezes show ritual combat. Urban plaza between huacas with workshops. Best preserved Moche polychrome art.
Why it mattersKey Andean (Moche) pyramid with stratified sequence and regional importance.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Why 5 superimposed pyramids — ritual burial of earlier phase or king sequence
- 02Decapitator frieze relation to actual sacrifice plaza remains
Theories
- 01Huaca de la Luna as ritual pyramid entombing earlier phases as successive king's ka house
- 02Polychrome frieze as narrative of Moche cosmology — mountain god and sacrifice at Cerro Blanco
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c.400 CE (Moche III, ceremonial peak)
- Period
- Early Intermediate, c.400-600 CE (Moche)
- Culture
- Andean (Moche)
- Purpose
- Moche ritual pyramid opposite Huaca del Sol: polychrome frieze temple (Decapitator God) with 5 construction phases, mural reliefs and sacrifice plaza
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
c.400 CE
Phase I — first adobe platform with early frieze
c.500 CE
Phases II-V — successive entombments, decapitator friezes added
c.600 CE
Abandonment at Moche collapse
1991
Uceda-Morales Huaca de la Luna project
On the ground
Structures & features
8.1365° S · 79.0620° W · 40 m · 2 mapped features
Polychrome frieze temple facade (Decapitator God)
facade5-phase adobe pyramid with polychrome reliefs of Ai Apaec decapitator god fanged, spider, warriors, vivid mineral pigments
8.1364° S · 79.0619° WSacrifice plaza and courtyard with altar
plazaNorthern plaza with sacrifice altar, pelts, and skeletal remains of captive sacrifice ritual
8.1366° S · 79.0621° W
Gallery