Nuevas perspectivas acerca del colapso Moche en el Bajo Jequetepeque

• Main Author: Marco Rosas Rintel
• Format: Article
• Language: Spanish
• Published: Institut Français d'Études Andines 2007-06-01
• Series: Bulletin de l'Institut Français d'Études Andines
• Subjects: Cerro Chepen; Late Moche Phase; patio-group architecture; Cajamarca culture; prestige objects; political collapse
• Online Access: http://journals.openedition.org/bifea/3835
• ISSN: 0303-7495; 2076-5827

Archaeological evidence recovered at the largest Late Moche fortified settlement in the Lower Jequetepeque Valley —Cerro Chepén— suggests that a situation of «external pressure» was responsible for the political collapse of the Late Moche communities of the region. Excavations conducted at a series of elite residences located in the Monumental Sector of Cerro Chepen revealed a curious association between Late Moche domestic wares and fine Cajamarca-style elite ceramics within the interior spaces of these structures. An evaluation of this evidence in conjunction with the architectural style of the buildings, the neat defensive design of Cerro Chepen’s Monumental Sector, the known settlement pattern of the Late Moche communities in the Jequetepeque Valley, and a series of C-14 dates that place the end of the occupation of Cerro Chepen roughly at the close of the Late Moche Phase, leads to the tentative conclusion that a military incursion undertaken by Cajamarca leaders was the main causal factor for the disappearance of the local Late Moche political systems.