The Moche cultural influence extended over 250km from the Piura valley in the far north of Peru to the Nepeña valley near Lima. Their 700-year history divides into three well documented and dated main phases of occupation and artistic style: the early or initial phase (100-350AD) when the Moche culture coalesced, the middle phase (350-700AD) corresponding to the height of Moche power and influence, and the late phase (700-800AD) which includes a rapid decline and reorganization, before a final collapse around 800AD (Bawden 2004). This territory is now recognized to encompass at least two distinct states, sharing a culture but possessing differing political strategies (Castillo & Donnan 1994). From approximately 400 to 800AD, the Southern Moche State, centered in the Moche and Chicama valleys, possessed a highly centralized, hierarchically organized political system in which leaders exercised considerable economic, military and ideological power (Billman 2002) Leaders directed the construction of massive pyramids, led the conquest of a large section of the north coast and organized the production of finely crafted gold objects, pottery and textiles (Billman 2002). Often described as manifesting a rigidly stratified class structure, a small core of elite provided political and religious leadership in the Moche-Chicama region for over 600 years, indicating a high degree of stability (Shimada 1994). Burial goods, architectural differentiation, iconographic representations of elites conducting human sacrifice and the discovery of the physical remains of those sacrifices at Huacas del Moche and the burials of priests at Sipán and priestesses at San Jose de Moro demonstrate a high degree of social differentiation and cultural continuity (Billman 2002; Chapdelaine 2002).
Moche society organized itself around a concept of duality and reciprocity. Each Moche social class or grouping owed its distinct form of productivity, whether food, labor, or goods, to the wider body, politically represented by the ruling elite (Bawden 1999). For example, studies conducted concerning the construction process of large monuments such as Huaca del Sol and Huaca de la Luna at Moche, indicate that leaders exacted a form of segmented labor tribute through which small groups produced adobe bricks and assembled these bricks into identical sections for constructing the Huacas (Billman 1999; Shimada 1994; Moseley 1975; Hastings and Moseley 1975). In return for labor or goods, the elite maintained the subsistence and ritual requirements of social and cosmological order, completing the reciprocal relationship (Bawden 1999). The lavish burials at Sipán and San Jose de Moro interred elites who enacted keys roles in rituals and religious ceremonies. The costumes and objects associated with these individuals directly correspond to depictions within Moche art of priests performing presentation and sacrifice rituals. To assure their continued ideological authority, these elites enforced exclusive command over its material symbols (Bawden 1999). One of the ways was through attached workshops that primarily produced fineware ceramics. Evidence from excavations of attached ceramic workshops indicates that artisans in these workshops produced ceramic instruments in addition to fineware elite ceramics. (Russell 1998, Shimada 2001, Uceda 1998).
The Moche art style first appeared within the Moche and Chicama Valleys and acted as an important outlet for the materialization of religious and political beliefs and authority throughout the Moche period. An estimated 80,000 to 100,000 Moche vessels have found there way into museums and private collections worldwide (Weismantel 2004). The wide range of subjects and life scenes depicted, from animals, plants, anthropomorphized demons or deities to hunting, fishing, combat, punishment of prisoners, sexual acts and elite rulers demonstrate high degrees of realism (Donnan 1976). Most vessels range between 1 and 30cm in height and consist of the typical stirrup-spout shape. The small size of the vessels allowed for greater and easier portability (Donnan 1976).
Traditionally, it has been suggested that Moche art depicts all aspects of daily life. Considering the wide range of Moche artistic expression, it remains remarkable that many common objects and activities do not appear, such as agriculture, pastoralism, mining, cooking, laundering, yarn spinning, pottery manufacturing, or stone carving (Donnan 1976). Christopher Donnan suggests that the Moche may not have differentiated between the supernatural/ritual and the mundane world, and consequently all the depictions of commonplace activities and objects may have contained some form of higher meaning (1976). Thus many scholars have postulated that all Moche art expresses non-secular ideas, is primarily religious in nature and communicates these religious beliefs as appropriated by elite political ideology (Quilter 1997; Bawden 1999). Based on this assertion, the depiction of music within the iconography indicates its importance to non-secular beliefs and practices for the Moche. Complete examples of the finest molded and painted vessels only derive from elite burials and the centers of administration and religious activity, further linking these vessels not only to political, but cosmological and religious beliefs and activities (Bawden 1999; Donnan and Mackey 1978). Depictions of musical instruments and musicians on these artifacts firmly places music within the realm of ritual and elite power relations.
Through his extensive research concerning Moche iconography, Professor Christopher Donnan has revealed the presence of a number of heavily repeated themes within Moche representations. The most prevalent, those of sacrifice, are deeply linked to performance and procession (Donnan 1976; 1999; 2007, Quilter 1997). The contents of the themes directly correspond to the symbols and accutraments found in elite tombs like those at Sipán. This suggests that the individuals buried therein fulfilled in life the ceremonial role depicted within the iconography. Additional burials at other sites such as San Jose de Moro appear to embody the roles of other figures in other themes (Alva & Donnan 1993, Donnan 2007). These high status burials, corresponding to roles within performances depicted within the iconography, reinforce the importance of performance within Moche society and state organization.
To date, the majority of archaeological research conducted in the Moche region has focused on a small range of topics: burial practices (Alva & Donnan 1993; Donnan & Mackey 1978), political strategies (Castillo & Donnan 1994, Swenson 2003, Bawden 2004), art (Quilter 1990;1997, Donnan 1976; 1999; 2004; 2007, Bourget 2006; 2008) and ceramics (Shimada 2001; Russel 1998; Uceda & Armas 1998). These studies have both advanced the understanding of the specific Moche context, and impacted research into broader topics such as state formation and power. For example, once considered a large centralized state society, the Moche political landscape now emcompasses a much more complicated area, containing at least two political regions, one in the north and one in the south. The emergence of more data may lead to the further identification of many more small areas of autonomy. This project will build upon this prior research by actively accounting for differences in the musical practices between different areas and over time. Additionally, this project will add a unique and undocumented type of data concerning sound, music and performance, which will impact the understanding of other aspects, especially the political and ritual, of Moche life.
The Moche Music Project 