Wari and the Huaca del Sol: Max Uhle’s 1899 Textile Collection at Moche, Peru

More than one hundred years ago, German archeologist Max Uhle excavated textiles and ceramics on the Huaca del Sol in the Moche Valley, Perú. This essay analyzes the textiles now housed in the Phoebe Hearst Museum of Anthropology of the University of California at Berkeley. The group is significant for the time period during the Andean Middle Horizon (600-900 CE), the variety of textile styles, and the presence of Moche textiles on the north coast of Perú where textiles are not commonly preserved. The textiles identify at least three separate traditions: a local Moche style, a hybrid highland/coastal style and a Wari associated style. The essay discusses the Huaca del Sol textiles as an opportunity to examine relations between the two important Peruvian cultures of Moche and Wari.