The Moche inhabited the valleys of the arid northern coast of Peru from the II to the VIII Centuries of our Era. They built large cities with monumental pyramids, residential zones for the elite, workshops for the production of handicrafts, sprawling settlements for commoners and numerous cemeteries. Their economy was based primarily on irrigation agriculture, but also depended on the exploitation of marine resources and participation in vast exchange networks. War was an important part of Moche society.