Moche. 1000 years before the Incas

Around 1000 years before the fall of the famous Inca empire, the northern Peruvian Moche culture (100 - 800 AD) was in its heyday. This little-known culture surprises visitors with top-class treasures made of clay, copper and precious metals. The exhibition at the Museum zu Allerheiligen Schaffhausen brings together over 220 exhibits from the museum's own rich collection, supplemented by top-class loans from partner museums in Switzerland and abroad. This is the first time that the fascinating Moche culture has been presented in an exhibition in German-speaking Switzerland.

The route through the show leads from the predecessor culture of the Cupisnique people via the nature and environment of northern Peru to the successors of the Moche, the Incas. An impressive variety of objects illustrates the impressive craftsmanship of the Moche and their astonishing knowledge of pottery and metalworking.

On display are masterful figurine vessels and ceramics with exquisite finely painted decoration as well as precious treasures made of gold, silver and copper. The objects tell of rituals and ceremonies and provide clues to the nature of the political elite and the social status of peasants and women.

Attention is also paid to the history of archaeology in Peru. At the very beginning, a Swiss researcher, Johann Jakob von Tschudi (1818-1889) from Glarus, also plays a role. His watercolors of Moche objects and Peruvian landscapes provide a colorful and highly interesting Swiss reference.

The large special exhibition will be extended until the end of May.


Note: This text was translated by machine translation software and not by a human translator. It may contain translation errors.