Andean civilizations · c. 100-800

Moche and Nazca: art in the desert

On the dry coast of Peru, two peoples turned river valleys into farmland. The Moche made lifelike pottery and huge adobe pyramids; the Nazca drew giant figures on the desert floor. Students explore what their art reveals without any writing.

Teach it live New Open on the map
Length
45 minutes
Ages
11–14
On the map
3 steps, AD 300
Live lesson
7 rounds, 3 on the map
Worksheet
Two A4 pages, with Classroom
You need
A projector; phones for live

Live lesson · new in Classroom

Teach it live. The class answers on their phones.

Put the board on the projector. Students join with a six-digit code, no account needed, and tap the map: where was the frontier, where did the grain come from. Their pins drop in together when you reveal, and the closest student takes the round.

€19 per month: every lesson live, every worksheet, cancel anytime. Rome at its height runs live for free.

A live lesson on the projector: the class's pins on the map around Alexandria, the closest students listed beside it A student's phone: the question and a map to tap
7 rounds
3 places to find on the map, quiz questions, a class vote and a one-line answer.
About 15 minutes
Run it as the map step, or to open the discussion. You move on with the space bar.
A report
Every answer, per student and per round, to read back or print after the lesson.
1

Introduction

5 min

Read aloud

On the dry coast of Peru, two peoples turned river valleys into farmland. The Moche made lifelike pottery and huge adobe pyramids; the Nazca drew giant figures on the desert floor. Students explore what their art reveals without any writing.

By the end of the lesson, students can

  • Locate the Moche and Nazca regions on the coastal desert of Peru.
  • Describe how Moche pottery and the Nazca Lines help us understand societies without writing.
  • Compare explanations for why the Nazca made their giant lines.
2

Explore the map

12 min

Project the map, or let students follow on their own devices. Each step opens the map at the right year and place.

a

AD 300

Rivers in the desert

Open the map in 300 AD on the north coast of Peru. Find the area labelled Moche. Zoom in: where are the green river valleys? Why did the Moche build their centres there?

Open this view on the map
b

AD 300

Lines on the ground

Move south to the Nazca region. The famous lines lie on a flat plain between river valleys. Why would dry, almost rainless ground keep lines intact for over 1,500 years?

Open this view on the map
c

AD 300

Two peoples, one coast

Zoom out to see both regions. The Moche heartland and the Nazca Lines are about 800 km apart. Use the borders: which people held the longer stretch of coast?

Open this view on the map
3

Class discussion

14 min

Pick two or three. They run from what happened to why it mattered.

  1. The Moche and the Nazca had no writing. What can pottery and drawings tell us, and what can they not?
  2. Both peoples lived in one of the driest deserts on Earth. How did they get water for farming?
  3. The tomb of the Lord of Sipán was found unlooted in 1987. Why are unlooted tombs so valuable to archaeologists?
  4. Some Nazca figures are longer than a football field and are best seen from the air. Why might people make art they could never fully see?
  5. Researchers link the decline of the Moche partly to floods and droughts. How can climate change a society?
4

Game round

9 min

Play one round of Rule History as Constantine the Great, who ruled Rome while the Moche and Nazca flourished. Afterwards, discuss: Constantine's decisions are known from written records. How could historians learn about the decisions of a Moche lord?

Open Rule History
5

Worksheet

5 min

This worksheet comes with Classroom

€19 per month unlocks every worksheet, every live lesson and the class workspace. The free lesson prints without a subscription.