AbstractThe Moche archaeological culture of the North Coast of Peru has been reified into a political system and claimed as the first state in South America. While some recent scholarship has reduced the size of the proposed state, the idea of Moche as a distinct political, social, or ethnic entity remains. In this article we demonstrate that even by the “classic” neoevolutionary theory of the 1960s—1980s the criteria for Moche statehood were not met. We suggest that neoevolutionary models for one or more Moche states are inadequate for understanding an archaeological culture that endured for more than six centuries, and we offer suggestions for directions for future research.

The Moche civilization of the north coast of Peru is thought to be the first state-level society in South America. Understanding of the emergence, spread, and decline of this society, however, has been based almost entirely on relative ceramic phases, rather than absolute dates. This article reevaluates Moche political dynamics and intersite affiliations using radiocarbon dates associated with diagnostic ceramic styles. The phases of ceramic styles at individual sites are estimated using Bayesian models of published 14 C dates that have passed explicit selection criteria for reliability. The site-specific phases are incorporated into a regional chronology, which adds additional support to the idea that Moche was a collection of independent polities with complex and nuanced relationships. Based on absolute dates, Moche civilization appears to have spanned between cal AD 200-900, with a significant and socially meaningful increase in stylistic homogeneity between cal AD 600-650.

Fieldwork at the Moche (A .D. 250–900) site of Licapa II in the Chicama Valley, Peru, has resulted in a more nuanced history of the changing sociopolitical relationships among Moche centers. The distinct archaeological signatures of Moche society, namely ceramics and huacas (monumental structures), have been interpreted as emblematic of an ethnic and political reality and as evidence for a state. Nonetheless, scholars are now disentangling these assumptions, arguing that Moche society was a complex mosaic of interacting settlements. My research at Licapa II combined surface collection, geophysical surveys, excavation, and chronometric analysis to better understand this site within the context of broader Moche sociopolitical dynamics. Ceramic and architectural evidence from Licapa II indicates that a shift in ideological organization occurred around A.D. 650. This shift reflects changes seen throughout the Moche world. Licapa II is located on the border of the northern and southern regions of Moche cultural development, and ceramic styles indicate that many of the interactions between these regions could have occurred here. By comparing these findings to evidence of sociopolitical reorganization seen elsewhere, research from Licapa II contributes to a non-state and decentralized view of the sociopolitical structure of Moche society.

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