Lady of Cao’s Temple

In 2006, the archaeological complex El Brujo was in the news for the discovery of a richly dressed, mysterious sovereign Moche woman’s tomb. Now after several years, a stupendous museum has opened. It holds the remains of this woman and lets visitors know a bit more about the Moche culture which used the Chicama valley as one of its ceremonial centers.

The archaeological complex is called El Brujo by the local people due to the great affluence of shamans. It is over 5,000 years old and started with the Huaca Prieta which was a key site of study for Junius Bird.

There evidence was found of the domestication of plants from 2,300 BC, that is, 1,500 years before Chavín. This was the first time that Carbon-14 tests had been used in our country.

Back to the Past
The Mochicas arrived here at the beginning of our era. From approximately 100 to 650 AD, this place served as a ceremonial center. During this period, the architecture went through lots of expansions and renovations that produced four superimposed buildings.


“Just like the bodies, architecture is buried after a period of crisis; it’s like a sort of renovation ritual,” explains Denis Vargas, the complex' resident archaeologist. He said that the place gained more importance with the discovery of the denominated “Lady of Cao” in one of the platforms of the temple.

The tomb contained, various meters deep in the ground, a funerary bale with amazingly well kept remains of a woman. Next to her, the remains of a young sacrificed woman and other three companions were found.

The mysterious woman’s body was adorned with fine offers which lead the archaeologist to think that she was a high Moche authority. The investigators were also surprised to discover that she had symbolic figures tattooed on her body.

This finding adds to the San Jose de Moro priestess who was a feminine character who apparently also occupied an important place in the Moche elite.

Her New Home
The Lady of Cao funerary context was discovered by the El Brujo Archaeological Project investigating team, lead by Régulo Franco and has been under investigation since 2006. Now, we can visit the recently opened museum and get to know about the Moche sovereign.

The museologist Lucero Silva points out that water is the narrative pivot of the museum since it has been a determining factor in the development of the complex and of the culture itself.

“The El Brujo complex is situated near the river mouth. This element has allowed for the development of multiple readings on pre-Hispanic cultures and has served as an intermediary agent between different cultural experiences,” explains Lucero Silva. She also adds that “water and its associations with other sacred substances like blood and chicha de jora, run across the museum through different audiovisual aids, allowing the visitor to relate to more organic and sensorial processes.”

This relation to water is present through different iconographic elements that appear in the museum, whether it is in the designs on the walls, or in the funerary objects of the Lady of Cao. The river also appears repeatedly represented by the fish and the ocean with its waves.

Fuente: El Comercio