Two thousand years ago a mysterious and little known civilisation ruled the northern coast of Peru. Its people were called the Moche. Dating from the time of Christ, the Moche created great buildings, beautiful art and indulged in hideous human sacrifice.

But what became of them has always been a mystery. For after 650 years of glory, they simply disappeared. They were one of the most fabulous and frightening of ancient South American civilisations.

Now thanks to research and forensic science, the catalogue of disasters that caused the Moche to die out has finally been revealed. But out of disaster, it seems the Moche may have spawned an even greater empire - the Incas.

Since he uncovered the extraordinary burial site of Huaca de la Luna, Steve Bourget of the University of Texas has been obsessed with the Moche.

His work has helped reveal a remarkable civilisation which produced dazzling figurative art - far more sophisticated than the line drawings produced by the later Incas. Bourget's discoveries also reveal evidence of the Moche's terrible ritual sacrifices.

Today after 1,500 years, the Moche and their legacy are beginning to take their place in world history. The story of the Moche is an epic account of a society that thought it could control the world and what happened to it when it found it couldn't. It is a story of human achievement and natural disaster, human sacrifice and war.