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If you follow my work , it's no mystery that I have a long-time interest and draw a major inspiration from Maya and especially Nahua (not only the Mexica, from Tenochtitlán, but also the Acolhua, Tlaxcalteca and other Nahua groups too) cultures and peoples from nowadays Mexico (and Guatemala). But I also draw a lot of inspiration from other pre-Hispanic First Nations of the whole continent, including the South American one where I was born, and that include the Kichwa (a large group of peoples which include, but isn't limited to the Qusqu / Cuzco based Inca, that in the 15th Century founded the expansionist political force known as Tawantinsuyu "four corners" in Runa Simi, the Kichwa language, the name of what we know as the "Inca Empire") and also peoples from other regions contemporary with the Kichwa, such as the Aymara from Qollasuyu "Bolivia", the Muysca, Kuna and Tayrona peoples, from nowadays "Colombia", the Mapuche, from Wallmapu (today divided between the states of Chile and Argentina), the many varieties of the Awá, from nowadays Brazil, among many others. And pre-Kichwa cultures, too, such as the Moche / Mochica from the northern coast of Peru, that flourished between the 2nd Century b.c - 7th Century ce.

The Mochica in particular have been a large influence to me since I was a 9 years old kid and got my hands into an edition of a National Geographic magazine featuring the El Brujo ("the sorcerer") Huaca complex archaeological site. Some of my old stories included characters visually inspired by some of the many material culture artefacts created by people from these cultures.

So I ought to illustrate some individuals from this incredible civilization, such as the "Old Lord of Sipán" (the figure on the left) - the iconic and better known Lord of Sipán is an individual whose mummy, buried at the Huaca Rajada* was discovered by modern archaeologist Dr. Walter Alva in 1987 (preventing it from being sacked - unfortunately, still common since the Spanish invasion, colonization, and in nowadays Peru); this Lord of Sipán was about 35 - 45 years old when he died, in the 3rd century CE. The old Lord of Sipán was found later, in the same archaeological complex, and found to be older, but related, in the matrilineal line, to the more famous and later Lord of Sipán. Other figures were found buried with both, among them warriors (such as the one in the right on this illustration), priests (such as the figure in the center), women, and a dog.

* - "Cracked Huaca" in Spanish. "Huaca" is a hispanicized term of the Kichwa concept of "Wak'akuna" (plural form of Wak'a in Runa Simi / Kichwa language. In Spanish and English the plural form of Huaca is generally written as Huacas), which refer to an object or location that represent something revered, typically a monument, but also natural locations such as immense rocks, mountains, and Mayukuna (Rivers - Mayu "river" + Kuna plural suffix). This likely included some sites from pre-Inca cultures that by the time of the Inca expansion were abandoned.
There are several "Huacas" built by the Moche across the northern Peruvian coast. These are somewhat "pyramidal" adobe structures adorned by rich murals, which portray battle scenes, aquatic creatures, both real or mythical, and sceneries of daily life. Both fearsome deities, human sacrifice, combat and capture of soldiers, but also dance and praise.
Known by their complex jewelry, ceramics and metallurgy, the Moche were one of the First Nations of South America to work metals such as gold and copper. Their ceramics likewise display non-human animals, mythical characters, but also normal scenes of daily life and they have produced a considerable quantity of erotic motif ceramics.

The Moche spoke a language different from Kichwa: their language, known as "Mochica", or "Chimu", named after their descendants, and also as Yunca, was possibly related to the Quingnam language which the Chimu reportedly used. Thus they didn't call their constructions "Huacas" - that's how the Kichwa and later the Spanish referred to them.

The Chimu are another distinct civilization developed by the descendants of the Moche / Mochica in what's nowadays coast of Peru, after a period when the Moche urban centers have ben gradually depopulated, and the peoples likely resorted to semi-nomadic lifestyles following tense moments of environmental catastrophe (droughts or floods as part of the El Niño meteorological phenomena felt in that area) and therefore also political and social crises. The Chimu were based in Chan Chan and grew into a considerably big and centralized state when the Inca, led by Sapa Inca ("the one son of the sun", roughly equal to "Emperor") Tupaq Inca Yupanqui, son and sucessor of Pachakuti, have confronted and defeated the Chimu state in the 15th Century (ca. 1471 - 1472), turning the Cie Quich (known by the Inca as Chimu Qhapaq "Chimu Lord") at the time into a vassal, and enforcing the policies of the ever growing Tawantinsuyu over its population. Since the Spanish invasion, the initial destruction of Qusqu, carried out not simply by the Spanish but several "indigenous" allies, some Kichwa such as the Wankakuna (a.k.a Huancas), and others from as far as nowadays Ecuador, such as the Caras, Chan Chan was also gradually abandoned following political instability. The descendants of the Chimu, and in turn the Moche, however, have never been truly gone. Between the 17th - 19th centuries, their language also became known as "Lengua Pescadora" (Fishermen's Language), and although most of it died out, some words still are spoken, and in the second half of the 20th Century, modern archaeology has managed to revitalize local interest for their pre-Hispanic history, and to counter pseudoscientifical narratives which unfortunately still claim, up to this day, that the europeans "discovered" or "brought civilization" to a people that was actually very civilized and lived in a very complex civilization which the europeans worked hard to eliminate, but failed in the end, and now, as humans, we have to work to preserve this part of human history which the First Nations refuse to forget, for they live it everyday, while resisting a largely colonial-minded government, and sectors of society that care more for destructive ways to make "easy money" than to teach their children about where they stand, and how they can change it for a less worse option.

This is just a small tribute which I ought to do for this criminally underrated culture and the descendants of those people whose hands made a vital chapter in human history.

I hope you like it as much as I did producing it!

And don't forget to follow and share my work at:

Behance | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter

Description

If you follow my work , it's no mystery that I have a long-time interest and draw a major inspiration from Maya and especially Nahua (not only the Mexica, from Tenochtitlán, but also the Acolhua, Tlaxcalteca and other Nahua groups too) cultures and peoples from nowadays Mexico (and Guatemala). But I also draw a lot of inspiration from other pre-Hispanic First Nations of the whole continent, including the South American one where I was born, and that include the Kichwa (a large group of peoples which include, but isn't limited to the Qusqu / Cuzco based Inca, that in the 15th Century founded the expansionist political force known as Tawantinsuyu "four corners" in Runa Simi, the Kichwa language, the name of what we know as the "Inca Empire") and also peoples from other regions contemporary with the Kichwa, such as the Aymara from Qollasuyu "Bolivia", the Muysca, Kuna and Tayrona peoples, from nowadays "Colombia", the Mapuche, from Wallmapu (today divided between the states of Chile and Argentina), the many varieties of the Awá, from nowadays Brazil, among many others. And pre-Kichwa cultures, too, such as the Moche / Mochica from the northern coast of Peru, that flourished between the 2nd Century b.c - 7th Century ce.

The Mochica in particular have been a large influence to me since I was a 9 years old kid and got my hands into an edition of a National Geographic magazine featuring the El Brujo ("the sorcerer") Huaca complex archaeological site. Some of my old stories included characters visually inspired by some of the many material culture artefacts created by people from these cultures.

So I ought to illustrate some individuals from this incredible civilization, such as the "Old Lord of Sipán" (the figure on the left) - the iconic and better known Lord of Sipán is an individual whose mummy, buried at the Huaca Rajada* was discovered by modern archaeologist Dr. Walter Alva in 1987 (preventing it from being sacked - unfortunately, still common since the Spanish invasion, colonization, and in nowadays Peru); this Lord of Sipán was about 35 - 45 years old when he died, in the 3rd century CE. The old Lord of Sipán was found later, in the same archaeological complex, and found to be older, but related, in the matrilineal line, to the more famous and later Lord of Sipán. Other figures were found buried with both, among them warriors (such as the one in the right on this illustration), priests (such as the figure in the center), women, and a dog.

* - "Cracked Huaca" in Spanish. "Huaca" is a hispanicized term of the Kichwa concept of "Wak'akuna" (plural form of Wak'a in Runa Simi / Kichwa language. In Spanish and English the plural form of Huaca is generally written as Huacas), which refer to an object or location that represent something revered, typically a monument, but also natural locations such as immense rocks, mountains, and Mayukuna (Rivers - Mayu "river" + Kuna plural suffix). This likely included some sites from pre-Inca cultures that by the time of the Inca expansion were abandoned.
There are several "Huacas" built by the Moche across the northern Peruvian coast. These are somewhat "pyramidal" adobe structures adorned by rich murals, which portray battle scenes, aquatic creatures, both real or mythical, and sceneries of daily life. Both fearsome deities, human sacrifice, combat and capture of soldiers, but also dance and praise.
Known by their complex jewelry, ceramics and metallurgy, the Moche were one of the First Nations of South America to work metals such as gold and copper. Their ceramics likewise display non-human animals, mythical characters, but also normal scenes of daily life and they have produced a considerable quantity of erotic motif ceramics.

The Moche spoke a language different from Kichwa: their language, known as "Mochica", or "Chimu", named after their descendants, and also as Yunca, was possibly related to the Quingnam language which the Chimu reportedly used. Thus they didn't call their constructions "Huacas" - that's how the Kichwa and later the Spanish referred to them.

The Chimu are another distinct civilization developed by the descendants of the Moche / Mochica in what's nowadays coast of Peru, after a period when the Moche urban centers have ben gradually depopulated, and the peoples likely resorted to semi-nomadic lifestyles following tense moments of environmental catastrophe (droughts or floods as part of the El Niño meteorological phenomena felt in that area) and therefore also political and social crises. The Chimu were based in Chan Chan and grew into a considerably big and centralized state when the Inca, led by Sapa Inca ("the one son of the sun", roughly equal to "Emperor") Tupaq Inca Yupanqui, son and sucessor of Pachakuti, have confronted and defeated the Chimu state in the 15th Century (ca. 1471 - 1472), turning the Cie Quich (known by the Inca as Chimu Qhapaq "Chimu Lord") at the time into a vassal, and enforcing the policies of the ever growing Tawantinsuyu over its population. Since the Spanish invasion, the initial destruction of Qusqu, carried out not simply by the Spanish but several "indigenous" allies, some Kichwa such as the Wankakuna (a.k.a Huancas), and others from as far as nowadays Ecuador, such as the Caras, Chan Chan was also gradually abandoned following political instability. The descendants of the Chimu, and in turn the Moche, however, have never been truly gone. Between the 17th - 19th centuries, their language also became known as "Lengua Pescadora" (Fishermen's Language), and although most of it died out, some words still are spoken, and in the second half of the 20th Century, modern archaeology has managed to revitalize local interest for their pre-Hispanic history, and to counter pseudoscientifical narratives which unfortunately still claim, up to this day, that the europeans "discovered" or "brought civilization" to a people that was actually very civilized and lived in a very complex civilization which the europeans worked hard to eliminate, but failed in the end, and now, as humans, we have to work to preserve this part of human history which the First Nations refuse to forget, for they live it everyday, while resisting a largely colonial-minded government, and sectors of society that care more for destructive ways to make "easy money" than to teach their children about where they stand, and how they can change it for a less worse option.

This is just a small tribute which I ought to do for this criminally underrated culture and the descendants of those people whose hands made a vital chapter in human history.

I hope you like it as much as I did producing it!

And don't forget to follow and share my work at:

Behance | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter