Totora reed boat (caballito de totora)
Caballito de totora
- Date
- c. siglos I-VIII (representaciones moche) · confidence low
- Place
- Huanchaco, Trujillo, La Libertad, Peru
- Credited to
- Moche and Chimú fishers of Peru's north coast
- Field
- Movement
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
A small fishing craft of bundled totora reeds with a curved bow, ridden astride by the fisher who paddles with a split cane. It is still used at Huanchaco to fish and pass through the surf.
An age of about 3,000 years is often claimed, without direct proof because the reeds do not survive; Moche iconography (1st-8th centuries) is the secure evidence.
What it led to
- artisanal shore fishing on the South American Pacific
- reed craft of Titicaca and the coast
- a living heritage of traditional Peruvian fishing