Huaca de la Luna ("Temple/Shrine of the Moon") is a large adobe brick structure built by the Moche people of northern Peru. Along with the Huaca del Sol, the Huaca de la Luna is part of Huacas de Moche, which is the remains of an ancient Moche capital city called Cerro Blanco.
The Huacas de Moche site is 4 km outside the modern city of Trujillo, where we had a brief stop. The Huaca de la Luna, though it is the smaller of the two huacas at the site, has yielded the most archaeological information. The Huaca del Sol was partially destroyed and looted by Spanish conquistadors in the 17th century, while the Huaca de la Luna was left relatively untouched. Archeologists believe that the Huaca del Sol may have served for administrative, military, and residential functions, as well as a burial mound for the Moche elite. The Huaca de la Luna served primarily a ceremonial and religious function, though it contains burials as well.
Today the Huaca de la Luna is coloured the soft brown of its adobe brickwork. At the time of construction, it was decorated in registers of murals which were painted in black, bright red, sky blue, white, and yellow. The sun and weather has since faded these murals away. Inside the Huaca are other murals created in earlier phases of construction. Many of these depict a deity now known as Ayapec. Ayapec is a pre-Quechua word translating as all knowing.
Huaca del Sol is the largest single pre-Columbian structure in Peru, although about a third of it has been washed away. The structure was built with about 140 million adobe bricks. Many of the bricks used in the structure bear one of over 100 different markings, probably corresponding to groups of labourers from different communities. Each "team" would have been assigned a mark to put on their bricks, and these were used to count the number of bricks laid as part of a payment.
The Huaca de la Luna is a large complex of three main platforms, each one serving a different function. The northernmost platform, at one time brightly decorated with a variety of murals and reliefs, was destroyed by looters. The surviving central and southern platforms have been the focus of most excavations. The central platform has yielded multiple high-status burials interred with a variety of fine ceramics, suggesting that it was used as a burial ground for the Moche religious elite. The grave goods found at the Huaca del Sol suggest it may have been used for the interment of political rulers.
The eastern platform, black rock and adjacent patios were the sites of human sacrifice rituals. These are depicted in a variety of Moche visual arts, most notably painted ceramics. After the sacrifice, bodies of victims would be hurled over the side of the Huaca and left exposed in the patios. Researchers have discovered multiple skeletons of adult males at the foot of the rock, all of whom show signs of trauma, usually a severe blow to the head, as the cause of death.
As the archeological digging has progressed, a roof has been added to protect the adobe structure from the elements.
Click on any thumbnail photo to get a larger picture
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
The most dramatic murals showed the Incas at the top, then the soldiers, then the prisoners. And it was the prisoners who were doomed to be sacrificed in a special area of the site
At one time the pyramid consisted of several different levels connected by steep flights of stairs, huge ramps and walls sloping at 77 degrees. The last 1500 years have wrought their inevitable damage, and today the pyramid looks like a giant pile of crude bricks partially covered with sand. The few graves within the structure suggest it may have been a huge ceremonial site. Certainly, its size alone makes the pyramid an awesome sight.
Huaca de la Luna is is riddled with rooms that contain ceramics, precious metals and some of the beautiful polychrome friezes for which the Moche were famous. The huaca (tomb or grave) was built over six centuries up to AD 600, with six succeeding generations expanding on it and completely covering the previous structure.
Archaeologists are currently onion-skinning selected parts of the huaca and have discovered that there are friezes of stylized figures on every level, some of which have been perfectly preserved by the later levels built about them.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
On to Hotel de Sol y Barro for a horse riding demonstration and some pleasant tapas. Whilst wandering round their hacienda I found this tucked away from the gaze of tourists...
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
A Cock Fighting Pit, and around a hundred cocks under "training". Cockfighting is perfectly legal in Peru, though it may be frowned on by Western tourists, and it takes place in coliseums with round sand pits, as I found here. Only a judge and two managers each carrying a cock are allowed in the pit.
The combatants are specially bred birds, conditioned for increased stamina and strength. The comb and wattle are cut off in order to remove anatomical vulnerabilities, similar to the practice of docking a dog's tail and ears.
Cocks possess congenital aggression toward all males of the same species. Cocks are given the best of care until near the age of two years old. They are conditioned, much like professional athletes prior to events or shows. Bets are made on the outcome of the match.
Sometimes metal spurs are attached to the cocks' natural spurs. Not all fights are to the death, and cocks may be pulled to enable the cock to fight another day. Here is a description of a cockfight in Peru
With the gallos de pelea weighed and the sand freshly swept, the owners gathered in the arena, their birds tethered and strutting at their feet. The announcer called out the names of all involved. The spectators, still small in number compared to later rounds, took to their seats in the bleachers surrounding the circular pit.
There was a quiet buzz of anticipation as all but two of the owners left the sand. The two remaining careadores looked focused, perhaps a little nervous, as they held their gallos gently between two hands, inspecting the spurs for the final time. The judge motioned both careadores to the centre of the arena, where they held their prizefighters in position. At the drop of a hand, both cocks were released, each one immediately, instinctually, rushing towards its opponent.
A flurry of kicks and powerful pecks soon had both birds entangled, their spurs locking them together, snagged in wings and chest feathers. Both lay motionless on the ground until their owners freed them, placing them back into attack position. Again they met, one cock taking the advantage and driving its rival to the arena’s edge, forcing it against the white wall with a series of attacking leaps, jumping up to bring down the piercing cockspurs.
Both gallos limited themselves to short offensive bursts as they began to tire in the heat. The noise of the crowd ebbed and flowed with the action; quiet, intense muttering accompanied the fight as the birds circled, then loud cries of support and freshly placed bets as one gallo launched an attack. “Cinco soles, El Negro!” they shouted as the black-feathered fighter took control over Pelo Rojo.
The red-feathered Pelo Rojo had obviously tired to a point of defenselessness as the fight progressed into its sixth or seventh minute. Thankfully, his owner pulled him from the fight, conceding victory.