Archaeologists excavating the ancient settlement of Cerro Mayal in northern Peru have uncovered fresh evidence that the site served as a major centre of ceramic production for the Moche civilisation, shedding new light on one of the least understood aspects of the culture.
The discoveries were made during the current field season of the Chicama Archaeological Programme (PRACH) managed by the National University of San Marcos (UNMSM), which resumed excavations at the site in the Chicama Valley, La Libertad region, in late July.
Researchers have recovered numerous ceramic moulds, particularly those used for figurines, and potters’ plates and huge quantities of manufacturing waste. The results add to the evidence for the existence of Cerro Mayal as a specialist pottery production centre in the seventh century AD.
“The first archaeological layers are covered by ceramic production waste,” said archaeologist Henry Tantaleán, co-director of the Chicama Archaeological Programme. “This confirms the site’s role as a centre for pottery production.”
While Moche ceramics are among the best-known examples of ancient Andean art, the workshops where they were produced remain poorly understood. The current excavations aim to reveal how Moche potters organised their work and how ceramic production was integrated into everyday life.
Excavations have also uncovered architectural features associated with pottery making, including adobe and stone walls and areas believed to have been used to prepare clay vessels.
According to the research team, one of the most significant findings is that the workshops also served as homes.
“We have been able to determine that people lived where they worked,” Tantaleán said. “These were workshop-houses, and we now want to understand how those production spaces were organised.”
The site dates to the Late Moche period, also known as Phase IV, around the seventh century AD, a time when Moche society flourished along Peru’s northern coast.
The latest campaign marks the first archaeological work at Cerro Mayal in almost 30 years. Earlier excavations carried out during the late 1980s and mid-1990s established the site’s importance but produced only limited published research.
Researchers say returning to the site offers an opportunity to apply modern excavation techniques and more precise scientific dating methods. New radiocarbon samples have already been sent to a laboratory in the United States, where improved dating is expected to refine the chronology of pottery production.
More accurate dates could also help archaeologists trace exchange networks between Cerro Mayal and other Moche settlements in the Chicama, Moche and Jequetepeque valleys.
The team believes the scale of pottery production may have exceeded local demand, suggesting the workshops supplied ceramics to neighbouring communities.
One possibility is that Cerro Mayal produced pottery used at the nearby archaeological site of Licapa II, another Late Moche settlement that the programme has been investigating for the past six years.
“One of the questions we’ve been trying to answer is where the pottery found at Licapa II was made,” Tantaleán said. “Cerro Mayal has long been one of the strongest candidates.”
Cerro Mayal has remained vulnerable to looting and encroachment because it lies within land owned by the Casa Grande sugar company. Researchers hope the new investigations will document the site before further damage occurs.
This year’s excavation is expected to cover 100 square metres, making it the biggest archaeological investigation ever carried out in Cerro Mayal. Researchers hope to have a better understanding of the site’s layout and the economic, technological and social arrangement of Moche ceramic production by expanding the excavation area.
The project is funded by the National University of San Marcos and the Peruvian Institute of Archaeological Studies as part of a wider effort to reconstruct how one of ancient Peru’s most successful civilisations produced and distributed its distinctive ceramics.
Sources : Andina
