This particular entry is somewhat belated due to the frustrating speed at which the computers run in Nepena!
Last friday we were up at the break of Dawn to get a bus to Trujillo, a traditional and bustling town which holds the two most famous Moche temples in Peru: Huaca de la Luna (temple of the Moon) and Huaca del sol (Temple of the sun). Our first visit was to the museum of Huaca de la luna which had opened only a few weeks before. The museum is designed in way that you can walk around on a kind of self-tour (the info is in both Spanish and English thankfully) and one of the great attractions is every peice of beautifully crafted Moche pottery displayed is the original and not a copy. For those who love to wander through the bewitching corridors of the past, this is a gem of a museum. Next we launched ourselves up the hill to the temple itself and I speak for every member of our tour when I say it was a site for sore eyes: layer upon layer of painted murals signifying different stages in the Moche culture. As we walked through the temple, we gazed in awe at the depictions of war, death, deities and perhaps most inticingly, human sacrifice. Excavation at the temple continues and there are still many hidden treasures to be uncovered.
Several hours later we found ourselves at a hostel near Sipan which hosted a fancy dress party for our group and another bunch of archaeologists which was (as you can imagine) rioutous fun. As the Mad Hatter I felt I must live up to my name...
The next day we got a bus to Chiclayo where we made our way to the Royal Tombs of Sipan Museum located in Lambayeque. This was an enormous museum constructed in the shape of a typical Moche temple, and the inside hosted huge range of Moche artefacts. Feeling a little sensitive from the party the night before, my legs turned to jelly as we walked through what felt like hundreds of lavishly decorated rooms filled with amazing Moche artefacts found in several royal tombs. The place was perhaps a little over the top, but it was certainly fascinating for the lovers of Moche art and also for the magpies out there with a prediliction for gold jewellery.
The weekend of exploration came to an end and we made our long way back to Chimbote, city of fish (the smell is overpowering!) We were given the day off on monday in order to recover from the excitements of the weekend, and I spent some part of the day washing shards of ceramic found on the dig. This turned out to be a rather rewarding experience as now the inch of dust had been removed from the sheards, images and decoration appeard on several of ther peices, and I came to the realisation that I was the first to see the clean surface in over a thousand years.
These last three days have been speant digging, brushing, measuring, drawing and unfortuantely, shovelling! We are now starting to scratch the surface of the Moche site and I am excited to discover what we will find. In other news, we celebrated the birthday of one of our beloved members of the dig with Sangria, cake and a bizarre mixture of music from me. All in all, this week has been one of hard work and slightly less agressive drinking.
Lucy
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