How To Become An Expert On The Moche Culture For Your Travel To Peru

If you think Peru is all about the Incas and Machu Picchu, maybe you need to think again. Two thousand year ago a mysterious and little know civilization inhabited the north of Peru. In recent years archaeologists - with a little help from grave robbers - have uncovered some of the most wonderful pottery and jewellery ever to emerge from an ancient civilization.

So if you're thinking about a Peru vacation, how do you find out more about the fascinating and little-known Moche empire? Here's 4 places you can include on your Peru tour to become a Moche expert.

1. Larco Museum in Lima
Start in this beautiful museum tucked away in an unprepossessing district of Lima. The well-placed displays showcase the mixing pot of different cultures that have populated Peru over the centuries.

Make sure you see the incredible weaving of the Paracas culture and the Quipu of the Inca. There is Moche gold and history but the real stunner in this museum is the storeroom. Floor to ceiling shelves of Moche pottery: pumas, fish, condors, gods, warriors and images of all kinds integrated into pots; and, in a different section, a whole harem of erotic pottery.
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2. Huaca de la Luna
Now, armed with a little background and an appreciation for the pottery skills of the Moche, head up the coast to Trujillo. Just outside town are the Huacas de la Luna and Sol (temples of the moon and sun).

Huaca de la Luna is a pyramid shaped tomb that has been opened and then preserved rather than restored (like Machu Picchu). Local archaeological students act as guides to explain the wonderful, colorful friezes and what they can tell us about Moche society.

Maybe just as interesting is the constant work in progress with archaeologists beavering away daily to keep the colors intact and preserve the exposed murals from the elements. It is a rare experience to see such vibrant colors in a tomb that has sat in the desert for hundreds of years.

3. Tombs Near Chiclayo
Still heading north, the next stop is Chiclayo. The Moche were a bloodthirsty lot. Scenes on pots have shown us that they held ritual battles The vanquished had their blood drained to be given as an offering to the gods. The knife for the blood letting, the pot to hold it and the blood itself were all important emblems.

Like the Pharaohs of Egypt, the Moche believed that when we die we go to the afterlife. Important members of society were buried with all their riches, family and servants around. In Huaca Rajada there are reconstructions of the rich tombs of the Lord of Sipan and others, and the on site museum houses many of the artifacts found there.

4. Gold in Lambayeque
Aside from the pots and the blood, the thing the Moche are know for is their amazing metalwork skills. Peru's showcase museum is the Royal Tombs Museum in Lambayeque just outside Chiclayo, a place packed full of gold and silver pieces from the Moche.

Included are some bizarre plates used as a kind of enormous nose ring, very large earrings and some elaborate masks actually used as pendants.