Graduate Research Projects

Moche Foodways
Archaeological Project Homepage

Northern Arizona University
 
 
 

Ciudad de Dios is a Late Moche farming village occupied by members of both an elite and commoner class.  Excavations were limited and focused only on one elite compound within the site The data from the elite section, however, are in marked contrast to the commoner Early Moche site of Santa Rosa-Quirihuac. Overall, fauna remains were much more prevalent, especially camelids or llama, and shellfish.  The botanical remains are currently being analyzed, but preliminary results suggest that the domesticates maize and peanuts dominate the assemblage. There are more varieties of maize recovered in higher frequencies at Ciudad de Dios than Santa Rosa-Quirihuac, while beans are less frequent. Some of the differences may be due to variation in status; yet, it is also likely that changes in socio-political organization over time resulted in variation in food production and consumption.
 
 

Architectural evidence from Ciudad de Dios suggests indirect political rule over the village, and independent household food preparation. However, there is an extremely high frequency of large, well-prepared grinding stones and a very large hearth at Ciudad de Dios. These data hint at the possibility of state control over certain types of food production and preparation. It is premature, however, to draw any definitive conclusion until we test this proposition with a larger sample from the Late Moche site and from other site types.  Further studies at Ciudad de Dios will provide more detail on the differences between elite and commoner diet.