By Artspace Editors. But what about those works whose subjects slid right past first base and sometimes even second and third? C— A. Image courtesy of the Art Insitute of Chicago. The Moche civilization dominated the arid north coast of Peru from around the first to the eighth century AD. Its peoples harnessed the waters of the Andes to create a sophisticated culture with a highly stratified urban society centered on ceremonial pyramid complexes called huacas.