The Fall of the Moche: A Critique of Claims for South America’s First State

Abstract

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>The 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.</jats:p>

Shellfish Resources and Maritime Economy at Caylán, Coastal Ancash, Peru

“…More recently, work at the urban center of Huacas de Moche has yielded insights into the development of what many see as the first state-level society along the north coast of Peru (Chapdelaine 2010; but see Quilter and Koons 2012). Rosello and colleagues (2001) have analyzed the remains from one residential compound (CA9) at the capital city.…”

7 The Mutable Neighborhoods of the Late Moche Period in the Jequetepeque Valley, Peru

“…The Moche were thus distinguished by powerful ruling elites who assumed possibly semi‐divine roles and consumed magnificent sumptuary goods. Although often considered to have formed the first state level society in South America (Billman ), this theory has proved controversial, and recent evidence indicates that Moche sociopolitical organization varied considerably within and between different river valleys (Quilter and Koons ; Swenson ).…”

Territorial Expansion in the Virú State: Updating Old Settlement Patterns to Explore New Ideas

“…As research programs continue in various parts of the Moche region, a more nuanced picture is emerging. Instead of an expansive territorial state, the Moche are now understood to consist of several politically autonomous groups with shared iconography that likely indicates a cultural sense of "Moche-ness" across various politically-and ethnicallyindependent valleys (Bourget 2010;Castillo and Donnan 1994;Castillo and Quilter 2010;Donnan 2009Donnan , 2011Millaire 2010b;Quilter and Koons 2012;Shimada 2010).…”

“…These subdivisions are not currently recognized (Millaire 2009a) and are not used in this paper. (Bourget 2010, Castillo andQuilter 2010;Donnan 2009Donnan , 2011Downey and Millaire 2015;Koons 2015;Koons and Alex 2014;Makowski 2009;Millaire 2009a;Quilter and Koons 2012).…”