Chicoine, SAA 2004

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THE MOCHE PRESENCE IN THE NEPEA VALLEY: A VIEW

FROM HUAMBACHO
David Chicoine
Sainsbury Research Unit
University of East Anglia
Abstract
The Moche occupation of the Nepea Valley has not yet been systematically investigated
and few data are currently available to gauge the presence of the Moche in this particular
valley. In the summer of 2003, excavations conducted at the site Huambacho, a large
architectural complex located in the lower Nepea Valley, have revealed Moche material
remains. In this paper, ceramics and architectural evidence from Huambacho will be
examined in order to define the nature of the Moche presence on the site.
Introduction
The Nepea Valley witnessed the construction of the monumental complex of
Paamarca, currently considered as the southernmost Moche ceremonial center and
probably one of the most impressive adobe monuments of the region. However, and
strangely enough, little is known about the nature and the extent of the Moche occupation
of the Nepea Valley. Was the Moche presence limited to Paamarca and its
surroundings? What was the nature of this presence? Was it a brief episode? What kind of
relationships did the Moche entertain with the local population(s)?

One way of tackling these issues is to examine Moche sites, and last summer, excavations
were conducted at Huambacho, a possible Moche site as suggested by Donald Proulx
during his 1967 survey (Proulx 1968). In this presentation, Moche material evidence from
Huambacho will be presented and the results of preliminary analyses will be discussed in
order to shed light on the nature of the Moche presence in Nepea.

Background to the Study

The Nepea Valley is located on the north coast of Peru, about 400 km north of Lima, in
the Department of Ancash. It lies directly south of the large and better-studied Santa
drainage (figure 1). Geographically, Nepea is a long and narrow valley, which runs for
more or less 74 km on a northeast-southwest axis. The most extensive surveys of the
valley were conducted by Donald Proulx (1968, 1973, 1982, 1985) and Richard Daggett

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(1983, 1984, 1985, 1987), of the University of Massachusetts (Amherst), who identified
more than 300 sites in the valley. However, from the observation of surface remains, less
than 40 sites were believed to have witnessed a Moche occupation. Most of them are
classified as cemeteries and concentrated nearby the ruins of Paamarca.

In the lower Nepea valley, the only possible Moche site identified by Proulx is
Huambacho (PV31-103) (figure 2), located on the southern margin of the Samanco River,
at the edge of the cultivated valley floor. It is strategically situated next to the Viejo
River, at the border of an irrigation canal, and from our current knowledge constitutes the
last major site before the Casma Valley to the south. Huambacho is a complex of stonewalled enclosures which lies in a vast pampa at the base of the Cerro Popo, at
approximately 8 km from the coast. Until our work last summer, no scientific excavations
had ever been conducted at the site. The fieldwork objectives in 2003, the first season of
a two-year project, were to realize a plan of the Main Compound, to understand its
architecture, construction, and spatial organization, and to identify its cultural and
temporal affiliations.

Surface observations had led Proulx to suggest that the bulk of the architecture was built
during the Middle Horizon and reoccupied by the Chim during the Late Intermediate.
The presence of fragments of stirrup-spout and red-on-cream pottery sherds also led
Proulx to identify a Moche component at the site. Huambacho, from its size and location,
is definitely the most important site of the sector, and one of the reasons for studying it
was to investigate the Moche occupation in Nepea.

Results from the 2003 Field Season

General Description of the Architecture
Huambacho is composed of a series of rectangular stone-wall enclosures and was
originally organized around two compounds (plate 1). One is today partially destroyed by
a cactus field. The other, larger and more complex, is still relatively well preserved. We
called it the Main Compound and divided in five operative sectors: (1) South Sector, (2)
Central Sector, (3) North Sector, (4) North Extension and (5) Huaca A (plate 2). The

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Main Compound is dominated by a large quadrangular sunken-court (i.e. Main Plaza) and
a raised stepped-platform (i.e. Main Platform), and covers an area of approximately 5
hectares.
In 2003, we sampled an area of more than 3700 m2 at Huambacho and horizontal
excavations revealed an intriguing architectural pattern exemplified by large open, patiolike, rooms or courts complemented by interior rows of pillars, laid at a distance of two
meters from the walls (plate 3). The function of these squared-pillars was probably to
support a roof structure. Even though the size of these patios varied substantially, the
function of these spaces seems to have been to host people involved in public or semipublic activities.

Huambacho: An Early Horizon Ceremonial Center with Multiple Reoccupations

Preliminary analyses suggest that Huambacho represents a ceremonial center where
people were probably gathering for specific occasions. If a particular group of people was
permanently living on the site, to maintain it for example, their quarters are still waiting
to be found.

The lack of good stratified contexts was the major problem we encountered. Therefore,
artefactual and architectural comparative analyses were crucial in our understanding of
the cultural history of Huambacho. Our current interpretation of the data suggests that
Huambacho, or at least what has been defined as the Main Compound, was built, and
principally occupied, during the Early Horizon Period (900-200 BC).

This interpretation of Huambacho mainly comes from three lines of evidence. First, the
recurrent and typical architectural layout, specifically the open-court with the aligned
squared-pillars, has also been documented on other Early Horizon sites, such as Huaca las
Pilastras in Santa and San Diego in Casma, investigated by Mercedes Cardenas (1979)
and Shelia and Thomas Pozorski (1987) respectively. Second, the ceramics found in
association with the occupational floor, even though not found in large quantity, can be
associated with Coastal Early Horizon material. The best example comes from a reduced-

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fire stirrup-spout bottle (Cupisnique-like style) found directly on the Main Plazas benchlike wall (figure 3). Numerous clay panpipes were also found, a feature identified by
Proulx to be common on Early Horizon sites. Third, the results of radiocarbon analyses
provided four calibrated dates that place the construction and the occupation of the Main
Compound between 700 and 200 BC (table 1). Three dates came from the fill of the Main
Platform and directly date its construction, and the other dates the use of one of the open
courts in the North Extension of the Main Compound.
Table 1 Results of the radiocarbon measurements-Huambacho 2003
Sample

Beta
Analytic

Material

Context

Date BP

235070

Cal. 2
Sigma
(95%)
760-220 BC

Cal. 1
Sigma
(68%)
540-350 BC

Huambacho-1

185372

Maize

Huambacho-2

185373

Huambacho-3

185374

Huambacho-4

185375

Plant
material
Maize
(cobs)
Maize and
other plant
material

OP-4, CS, A-4,

fill under Floor-1
OP-4, CS, A-3,
fill under Floor-1
OP-15, NE, A-2,
pit in Floor-1
OP-18, SC, A-3,
fill under Floor-1

248060

790-410 BC

770-510 BC

242060

770-390 BC

550-400 BC

241050

600-390 BC

540-400 BC

After its abandonment, evidence suggests that the ceremonial center of Huambacho
retained some of its importance. Different zones of the site were reoccupied at different
time periods. For example, Middle Horizon groups used the area for funerary purposes,
as did the Chim, who filled almost entirely the two main plazas of the site with burials.
Nevertheless, the case of interest for this paper is the reoccupation of the site by the
Moche.

The Moche Material Evidence

No pure adobes constructions were documented at Huambacho. In fact, the evidence for a
Moche occupation comes primarily from the discovery of ceramic remains of two types:
(1) the numerous decorated pottery sherds and (2) the ceramic molds.

Moche Decorated Ceramics

Numerous fragments of ceramics decorated following the Moche tradition were found
during the 2003 excavations. They almost entirely came from a very restricted area (ca. 5

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m by 5 m.), just north of the Main Platform (plate 2, figure 4). This zone was heavily
disturbed by looting activities. The discovery of more than 400 Moche ceramic fragments
(N=420) therefore solely came from the cleaning of a looters pit. In this sense, and
taking into account that various human bones and grave goods were found in that same
zone (for example, wooden staff (figure 5), copper, Spondylus shell beads, bone
ornament), it is relatively secure to suggest that the original context of these ceramics was
within the burials of high class individuals.

Provisionally, it can be said that the vessel shapes associated with the Moche style of
decoration were dominated by small face-neck jars (figure 6). However, fragments of a
typical Moche lateral-handle bottle, as well of a stirrup-spout bottle were collected. A
striking observation is the virtual absence of flaring bowls, so abundant in Santa and
recorded by Proulx in Nepea during his survey of the valley.

Regarding the decoration, our Moche ceramic corpus was decorated using threedimensional techniques and the occurrence of a white slip is fairly common (figure 7). No
fine-line paintings were ever observed, and examples of Blackware were documented
(figure 8).

In terms of iconographic content, representations of animals and human figures [faceneck jars] were certainly the most common, if not the exclusive iconographic themes. The
zoomorphic depictions are fairly naturalistic, although we often see the mix of
anthropomorphic and zoomorphic traits, as well as of different animals in the case of pure
zoomorphic representations.

The technological as well as the aesthetic attributes of the Moche material surely argue
for a local production. The paste for example is very coarse and thick, which make the
Moche style ceramics from Huambacho quite rough in comparison with the ceramics
from the Moche type site Huaca de la Luna for example. From the analyses of stylistic
and iconographic attributes, the Moche wares from Huambacho can be undoubtedly
associated with the Middle Moche phase. Whether they belong to the Moche Phase-III or

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IV is a more difficult issue to deal with since no complete stirrup-spouts were found and
pottery fragments were often badly weathered.

The Ceramic Molds

A total of 30 ceramic mold fragments were uncovered during the 2003 field season. They
were all collected at the surface of the site, just south of the Main Compound, along the
east perimeter wall (plate 2). Some of the fragments were badly preserved, but from the
observation of the vessel shape and their style (i.e. mainly neck-jars with Moche style of
decoration) (figures 9 and 10), we feel confident that they could be associated with the
Moche reoccupation of Huambacho. The following question therefore arises: Could the
Moche have settled at Huambacho and produced ceramics? Can the Moche occupation of
Huambacho be more than funerary? Future investigations will be needed to clarify this
issue, and a second field season is planned for the summer of 2004.

Final Comments
To sum up this paper, horizontal excavations have shown that the bulk of the stone
architecture visible at Huambacho, which was thought to date to the Middle Horizon
period, was instead built and use during the Early Horizon, and dating roughly between
700 and 200 BC.

Due to the nature of its architectural layout, it can be proposed that the Main Compound
functioned as a ceremonial center in which people were probably gathering for specific
occasions. It is hypothesized that a limited group of people permanently inhabited the
site, although their domestic quarters have yet to be discovered.

We feel confident in arguing that if Huambacho was an important ceremonial center

during the Early Horizon, it probably retained some of its symbolic and sacred value over
time, and as such was reused as a cemetery zone. To further support this claim, it can be
noted that even today people from the nearby community of Huambacho El Arenal, have
their cemetery at the southern extremity of the site, right besides the ruins of the Main
Compound.

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It has been shown that the Moche material found at Huambacho was mainly represented
by fragments of decorated pottery. From the analyses of various attributes it can be said
that these ceramics were relatively coarse and of low aesthetic qualities. This could argue
for a local production, which could in turn be consistent with the presence of numerous
molds at the surface of the site.

At the level of the Nepea Valley, Huambacho shows that Moche elite, or people
identified as such, were buried, and maybe lived, outside the vicinity of Paamarca. This
confirms Proulxs assumption and extends our current knowledge on the Moche, but to
some extent it still does not challenge the fact that the Moche presence in Nepea was
mostly concentrated around the monumental complex of Paamarca. It could therefore be
suggested that, in a way resembling the Santa Valley case, the Moche occupation of the
Nepea drainage was centered on the construction of a massive ceremonial center (i.e.
Paamarca). The difference with the Santa Valley would be that there was perhaps less
time for the Moche rulers to extend their control over the entire Nepea valley before the
southern Moche hegemony collapsed at the end of the Early Intermediate period.

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References cited
Crdenas, Mercedes
1979 A Chronology of the Use of Marine Resources in Ancient Per.
Publicacin del Instituto Riva-Aguero, 104. Pontificia Universidad
Catlica del Per, Lima.
Daggett, Richard E.
1983 Megalithic Sites in the Nepea Valley, Peru. In Investigations of te
Andean Past, 75-97. Edited by Daniel Sandweiss. Cornell University Latin
American Program, Ithaca.
1984 The Early Horizon Occupation of the Nepena Valley, North Central Coast
of Peru. PhD Dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University of
Massachusetts, Amherst.
1985 The Early Horizon-Early Intermediate Transition: A View from the
Nepea and Vir Valleys. In Recent Studies in Andean Prehistory and
Protohistory, 41-66. Edited by Peter Kvietok and Daniel H. Sandweiss.
Latin American Studies Program, Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y.
1987 Toward the Development of the State on the North Central Coast of
Peru. In The Origins and Development of the Andean State, 70-82. Edited
by Jonathan Haas, Shelia Pozorski and Thomas Pozorski. Cambridge
University Press, Cambridge.
Pozorski, Shelia and Thomas Pozorski
1987 Early Settlement and Subsistence in the Casma Valley, Peru. University of
Iowa Press, Iowa City.
Proulx, Donald A.
1968 An Archaeological Survey of the Nepea Valley, Peru. Research Report, 2.
Department of Anthropology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
1973 Archaeological Investigations in the Nepea Valley, Peru. Research
Report, 13. Department of Anthropology, University of Massachusetts,
Amherst.
1982 Territoriality in the Early Intermediate Period: The Case of Moche and
Recuay. awpa Pacha 20: 83-96. [Berkeley].
1985 An Analysis of the Early Cultural Sequences in the Nepea Valley, Peru.
Research Report, 25. Department of Anthropology, University of
Massachusetts, Amherst.

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FIGURES

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NEPEA VALLEY

Figure 1 Map of Peru showing the major archaeological sites and

the location of the Nepea Valley.

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Figure 2 Map of the Nepea Valley showing the Huambacho (PV31-103)

and Paamarca archaeological sites (after Proulx 1973: ix).

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Figure 3 Reduced-fired Cupinisque-like stirrup-spout bottle discovered during Operation

17, directly on the floor of the north wall of the Main Plaza (A-1, Central Sector).

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Figure 4 Plan view of the Main Platform (A-3, Central Sector)

architectural complex showing the location of the looters pit
(A-13, North Sector) where Moche ceramic fragments were recovered.

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Figure 5 Wooden staff in the shape of a fist discovered during Operation 13, north of the
Main Platform, in association with Moche funerary ceramics.

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Figure 6 Two examples of Moche style face-neck jars depicting

anthropomorphic representations discovered during Operation 13, north
of the Main Platform (A-13, North Sector).

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Figure 7 Two examples of Moche style cream slipped vessels depicting threedimensional zoomorphic representations discovered during Operation 13, north of the
Main Platform (A-13, North Sector).

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Figure 8 Three examples of reduced-fired Moche style vessel discovered

during Operation 13, north of the Main Platform (A-13, North Sector).

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Figure 9 Examples of ceramic molds, possibly Moche, discovered south of the Main
Compound, near the east perimeter wall.

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Figure 9 Examples of ceramic molds, possibly Moche, discovered south of the Main
Compound, near the east perimeter wall.

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PLATES

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Plate 1 Aerial photograph of Huambacho (PV31-103) showing the two architectural

compounds (Servicio Aerofotogrfico Nacional 399-82).

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MOCHE
POTTERY
FRAGMENTS

CERAMIC
MOLDS

Plate 2 Main Compound at Huambacho showing the five operative sectors, as well as
the Main Plaza and the Main Platform (Servicio Aerofotogrfico Nacional 399-82). Note
the zone where the Moche pottery fragments and the ceramic molds were collected.

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Plate 3 Northwest view of the room A-7 (South Sector) showing the
interior colonnades architectural layout documented at Huambacho.

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