To aid research on 'A Materiality of Sound: Musical Practices of the Moche of Peru,'

The objectives of the project are to investigate the relationships between the material and the ephemeral and to evaluate the feasibility of researching sound in past societies utilizing archaeological techniques. The musical practices of the Moche of Peru, who flourished on the north coast of Peru from 100 to 800 AD, provide the ideal case study for the investigation of sound in the past. The initial stage of this project involved the collection of data from a variety of sources. Over nine months, from November 2010 to August 2011, this project completed acoustic maps of three different Moche sites consisting of over 3,000 individual data points and created a database of Moche musical instruments containing 923 entries and 470 sound recordings. The data from the musical instruments and iconography provides information concerning the levels of cohesiveness of the Moche soundscape both geographically and temporally. The acoustic maps provide insight into the spatial arrangement and organization of sites, demonstrating the inclusiveness or exclusiveness of performance spaces. The techniques and methods utilized for this project demonstrate the feasibility of investigating sound in the past and provide low-impact solutions to investigating sound in any archaeological context.