There are still so many ruins of community buried under the sand in between the two pyramids.

I made a day trip outside of the city recently to visit the ruins of the pre-Incan Moche civilization (app. 100 A.D. - 800 A.D.) The old city consisted of two massive pyramid like constructions, in which a new story or level was added every era or epoch. They based the city at the base of a mountain for spiritual and physical protection - and to keep the fertile valley for farming.  Now lies a contradiction of the Moche train of thought, with the urban sprawl of Trujillo occupying the best farming land. 

Villages from the community made contributions to the construction of these massive temples by donating bricks. Each family signed their own bricks with a distinct marking seen here.

 One family's signature.

Although the Spanish conquistadors and more recent tomb-raiders raided the place for valuables over the years, most of the ruins lay buried under sand for thousands of years until in the late 80s. Apparently a girl climbing up the mountain, sat down to rest and fell underground deep into one of the pyramids! Around 1991 a huge operation aided by powerful international sponsors, excavated these incredible ruins - amazing jewelry, artwork, tools, architecture and important information on the culture was discovered - and more is constantly being discovered.  

More than 1500 years old and looks perfect!

The remains of the political center of the Moche, which apparently used to be double the size. Trujillo bustles away in the once green fertile valley in the background.

I can't describe the feeling of standing silently amongst these vast haunted ruins imagining people going about their daily activities for thousands of years before I existed. Courtyards where people used to sit and socialize, tombs of great warriors, little kitchens, alter where defeated warriors were presented naked and painted- to be clubbed to death as offerings to the gods.

The rituals seemed viscous and eerie. This was one civilization that believed in satisfying their gods of the elements and animals by spilling human blood. And it seemed spilled a lot of it - we were presented with one of the execution clubs - a gnarled heavy weapon stained dark brown. The chemical tests conducted showed the club had been covered with layer upon layer of human blood.