Huaca Colorada ("Red Temple") is a Late Moche site (AD 600-800), located in the Jequetepeque Valley of the desert north coast of Peru, approximately 600 kilometers (~375 miles) north of Lima. The site is partially buried within a series of dunes on the Pampa de Mojucape, along the southern bank of the Jequetepeque River. Huaca Colorada includes an area of approximately 24 hectares (~60 acres), which is dominated by an elongated platform built on a modified hill of dune sand. The main platform measures 390 meters by 140 meters (1280 by 460 feet), with a height of 20 m (~65 ft) at its highest point.
Principal Platform
The principal platform mound is the central focus of the site, and it contains the remains of both a high status residence and a ritual area. The chambers, corridors and doorways of this platform are decorated with murals referring to classic Moche mythology; ritual areas within the platform contain deposits of Moche V and Cajamarca fine line vessels, with a concentration of decorated feasting jars. Five altar-like platforms appear to have been used as stages for feasting, including the presentation and consumption of comestibles, such as maize beer (chicha).
In the principal platform is a chamber measuring 9 x 11.9 m (~30 x 40 ft). This chamber is dominated by an extraordinarily well-preserved platform, nearly identical to raised platforms frequently portrayed in Moche ceramic iconography. The platform has stucco columns, and likely supported a gabled roof. The chamber's murals represent key ritual functions in Moche iconography, including the practice of the Moche Warrior Narrative. Interred directly in front of the main platform dais were two young women, both apparently human sacrifices; above the human sacrifices were buried guinea pig and dog offerings. There is clear evidence that the diases were rebuilt several times: this appears to be evidence, as seen elsewhere in Moche sites, that the chamber was ritually decommissioned and sealed after the ceremonies were completed.
Other Sectors of Huaca Colorada
Lower sectors of the mound to the north and south of the principal elite residence consist of expansive areas of non-elite residential housing, interspersed with copper metal working areas. These regions appear to have been occupied in short-term, episodic spurts by non-elite workmen. The residences have plaster-floored house foundations, with hearths and artifacts, including copper pins, spindle whorls and figurines. Excavator Edward Reuben Swenson believes these probably resulted from episodic congregations at the huaca by people who normally lived elsewhere, but came to fulfill tribute obligations and partake in religious festivals on a seasonal basis.
Swenson argues that when the workmen were not living at Huaca Colorada, they lived in smaller hamlets which have been identified close to agricultural fields, or in the hillside settlements which include domestic terraces and stone ceremonial architecture, similar to Cuidad de Dios in the Moche Valley. In addition, there is evidence of a prehistoric inter-valley road system, dotted with dispersed way stations and temporary encampments that appears to connect Huaca Colorada to places further south.
Craft Production
Workshops identified in the residential sectors include copper production, indicated by a considerable quantity of raw copper ore, slag, prills (refined copper droplets), crucibles, molds, and completed copper ornaments. One chamber included a large cache of finished and partly worked metal objects. Polishing stones, abrasive material, cutting implements, and other tools attest to the manufacture of finished copper objects.
Although typical Moche pear-shaped furnaces (such as at Cerro de los Cementerios at Batan Grande) have not yet been discovered at Huaca Colorada, researchers believe informal ovens may have been dug into the sand and sealed with potsherds. In addition, several similar features consisting of a rectangular slot defined by two courses of oxidized adobe brick have been identified in both residential sectors. These features are between 1.5 to 3 m (~5-10 ft) long and enclose a space of roughly 40 to 55 centimeters (16-20 inches) across; they are filled with blackened, charcoal-rich sands. Copper slag was not identified within these alignments, but it is possible that these features may have served as makeshift furnaces or kilns, with crucibles placed in a row in the slot. Similar features at Huacas de Moche, although they have been interpreted as cooking hearths.
Swenson argues that this evidence indicates that the smelting of ore, remelting of prills, and the finishing of metal implements all occurred within the non-elite residential sectors of Huaca Colorada. Evidence for annealing, hammering and related finishing techniques are embedded within household contexts. Ore fragments, slag, crucibles, copper blanks and finished artifacts were found in close association with cooking hearths, spindle whorls, shallow garbage middens, cooking pots and female figurines, suggesting that copper production took place at least part within domestic residences, rather than separate workshops.
Artifacts produced at the copper production sites are principally small ornaments, tumi knives intended for use in ceremonial sacrifices, pins, tweezers, and other small tools. The location of the copper production at household settings at Huaca Colorada combined with evidence of transient settlement in the Valley suggests that the copper artisans were not permanently attached to the center or the center's elites, but rather transient seasonal workers, who came to the huaca to assist with ritual ceremonies.
Archaeology at Huaca Colorada
Huaca Colorada was excavated during three field seasons between 2009-2011, under the direction of Edward R Swenson at the University of Toronto, Jorge Yassell Chiguala Azabache Qetzal of the Universidad Nacional de Trujillo and John Warner of the University of Kentucky.
Sources
This glossary entry is a part of the About.com guide to Moche Civilization, and the Dictionary of Archaeology.
Shimada I, Epstein S, and Craig AK. 1982. Batan Grande: A Prehistoric Metallurgical Center in Peru. Science 216(4549):952-959.
Swenson E. 2011. Stagecraft and the Politics of Spectacle in Ancient Peru. Cambridge Archaeological Journal 21(02):283-313.
Swenson ER, and Warner JP. 2012. Crucibles of power: Forging copper and forging subjects at the Moche Ceremonial Center of Huaca Colorada, Peru. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 31(3):314-333.
Swenson E. 2012. Moche ceremonial architecture as thirdspace: The politics of place-making in the ancient Andes. Journal of Social Archaeology 12(1):3-28.
