North Coast - Peru - page 686

positive energy and ceremonies are occasionally performed here when someone needs to
soak up a bit of the good vibes.

RUIN

Huaca Prieta
Huaca Prieta has been one of the most intensively studied early Peruvian sites. However,
for nonarchaeologists, it's generally more interesting to read about than to tour. Although
it's simply a prehistoric pile of refuse, it does afford extensive vistas over the coastal area
and can be visited along with the other huacas in the archaeological complex.

PRE-COLUMBIAN PEOPLES OF THE NORTH
COAST

Northern Peru has played host to a series of civilizations stretching as far back as 5000 years. Listed below are the
major cultures that waxed and waned in Peru's coastal desert areas over the millennia.
Huaca Prieta
One of first peoples on the desert scene, the Huaca Prieta lived at the site of the same name ( Click here ) from
around 3500 BC to 2300 BC. These hunters and gatherers grew cotton and varieties of beans and peppers and sub-
sisted mainly on seafood. They were preceramic people who had developed netting and weaving, but didn't use
jewelry. At their most artistic, they decorated dried gourds with simple carvings. Homes were single-room shacks
half buried in the ground; most of what is known about these people has been deduced from their middens.
Chavín
Based around Huaraz in Peru's central Andes, the Chavín also had a significant cultural and artistic influence on
coastal Peru, particularly between the years 800 BC and 400 BC. For more information on the Chavín culture,
Click here .
Moche
Evolving from around AD 100 to AD 800, the Moche created ceramics, textiles and metalwork, developed the ar-
chitectural skills to construct massive pyramids and still had enough time for art and a highly organized religion.

Among all their expert productions, it's the ceramics that earn the Moche a ranking in Peru's pre-Inca civiliza-
tion hall of fame. Considered the most artistically sensitive and technically developed of any ceramics found in
Peru, Moche pots are realistically decorated with figures and scenes that leave us with a very descriptive look at
everyday life. Pots were modeled into lifelike representations of people, crops, domestic and wild animals, marine
life and monumental architecture. Other pots were painted with scenes of ceremonial activities and everyday ob-
jects.

Some facets of Moche life illustrated on pots include punishments, surgical procedures (such as amputation and
the setting of broken limbs) and copulation. One room in Lima's Museo Larco ( Click here ) is devoted to pots de-
picting a cornucopia of sexual practices, some the products of very fertile imaginations. Museo Cassinelli in
Trujillo ( Click here ) also has a fine collection.