The Lord of Ucupe: Tomb Discovery Sheds New Light on Moche Culture in Ancient Peru

Archaeologists and co-leaders of the excavation Steve Bourget of the university of Texas and Bruno Alva of the Museum Tumbas Reales de Sipan., believe the find could shed new light on the culture of Peru’s northern coast and radically change the way experts think of the society. 

View of Huaca el Pueblo Archaeological Site (Source)

The nature of the artefacts the tomb contains and the fact that it is located far from known Moche capitals suggests the area had a far more complex system that was previously believed to be the case.  Research is now being done to determine the cultural differences between the northern and southern regions.

The culture of the Moche flourished between 100 and 800 AD and is characterised by its tombs filled with precious stones and metals, beautiful pottery and art and by its stepped pyramids.

‘The Lord of Ucupe’ as the king has been nicknamed by locals was in his early thirties when he died.  As was custom, his body was covered by a tunic and a train of tiny gilded copper plates but two funerary masks were used to cover his face, both from different periods and one laying on top of the other; finding two masks is a first according to Bourget. 

One of two funerary masks found at the site (Source).

A four inch silver necklace covered his neck and as befitting for any king, a gilded crown rested on his head.  Six more crowns and ten V-shaped headdresses known as diadems were laid out on his body, which lay on top of yet another diadem and six metal war clubs.  The body was wrapped in a large bundle made of reed and textile, found with many artefacts suggestive of his high status and a final diadem was placed on top of it all.

Buried beneath the sovereign were the skeleton remains of another man in his late twenties and buried with two vessels.  Beside him is another man who had fragments of what look like a fox effigy in his hands and is himself buried on top of a woman with a 5 month old foetus and buried with three vessels, a llama, a nose ornament and wearing a crown.  Bourget explains,

“We don’t know the relationships between the leader and the other males….this woman may have been a concubine or a wife.  She may have died [of natural causes] while pregnant.”

 (Source)

The bones of the bodies showed no marks indicating sacrifice had occurred and radiocarbon dating of textile fragments suggests a date of burial of 340 – 540 AD.

It is likely that when appearing in public, the ‘Lord of Ucupe’ word have worn similar decorations to the ones he was buried with.  His tunic, headdress, ear spools, nose mask, would all have been made of gilded copper, according to Bourget;

“This guy would have shined in the sunlight….This is the king of bling, literally.”

The Lord of Ucupe (Source)

What is unique about this discovery is that it’s the first time a leader of this stature has been found outside of Sipan, 40 km (25 miles) away.  What’s more, the level of riches that the ‘Lord of Ucupe’ was buried with is unheard of anywhere and the artefacts are found in both the early Moche style which was more florid and the simpler, more stylistic middle Moche designs suggesting that it was a transitional period for the society.

It is generally accepted that the northern Moche settlements were highly independent city-states but the similarities between the site and those at Sipan may challenge that belief.  There is much work left to be done by archaeologists at Huaca el Pueblo and particular emphasis this year will be put on the early Moche phase of the settlement.  In the future the collection will form part of a regional museum for the Zana Valley and will bring tourism and local development to this very underprivileged part of Peru.