Moche chronology of ancient Peru: Bayesian assessment of radiocarbon dates and ceramic styles from north to south

Abstract

In the last decade Bayesian analysis of radiocarbon dates has become commonplace for archaeologists grappling with regional chronologies. Here we present Bayesian analysis for radiocarbon dates from Moche cultural contexts from the north coast of Peru with the aim to understand the duration of the phenomenon and to compile all known dates in a single location for future analysis and use. The analysis demonstrates that the long-standing Moche ceramic sequence does not provide a perfect proxy for tracking the timing of all social interactions. However, our results show general agreement with traditional relative Moche chronologies. Finally, our study shows that Moche was a shorter cultural phenomenon than has been previously argued, with the current data indicating that it began between the late 4th and early 6th centuries CE and lasted until the 9th century CE.