Residential histories of elites and sacrificial victims at Huacas de Moche, Peru, as reconstructed from oxygen isotopes

Local baseline water sources (δ18Ow) were used to interpret the human δ18Op values. Females from urban residential compound and platform mound tombs have more variable δ18Op values than males, which suggest a patrilocal residence pattern. Males from the same elite contexts have δ18Op values that reflect local water compositions, demonstrating lifetime residential stability and therefore a local elite. An earlier sacrificial group (Plaza 3C) appears to consist mostly of local individuals, but the greater inclusion of non-local individuals in a later sacrificial group (Plaza 3A) reflects more variability in origins of victims during later Moche state development. While the nature of Moche socio-political structure remains contentious, these data suggest a high degree of population mobility among distant Moche centers.