The Moche (also known as the Early Chimú or Mochica) lived in what is modern-day Peru near Moche and Trujillo. Their civilization lasted from approximately 100 to 800 CE. The Moche shared a culture within a distinct geographical region. However, we understand that this civilization functioned as individual city-states, sharing similar cultural classes, rather than as an empire or a single political system.

Look at the map below to get a sense of where the Moche lived. If you are not very familiar with the geography of South America, you should look at a globe or an atlas now. Look at the photo at the bottom of the page now. You can see that although this area is on the Pacific Coast it is much drier than the coast of British Columbia. The dryness of the climate should also explain why irrigation was so important to this culture.

map from http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/moche/moche-map.jpg

The Moche culture centered around several valleys along the north coast of Peru, and occupied 400 km of desert coastline that extended up to 80 kms inland. Moche society was agriculturally based, but because of the dry climate, they invested heavily in the construction of a network of irrigation canals. These canals diverted river water to crops across the region. The Moche are also noted for their ceremonial architecture (huacas), elaborately painted ceramics, and woven textiles.