The City Of Chan Chan

THE CAPITAL OF THE CHIMUES IS THE BIGGEST CITY OF ADOBE OF PRE-HISPANIC AMERICA. THEIR PALACES WERE DECORATED WITH FRIEZES OF GEOMETRIC, FISH AND BIRD FIGURES. THEY WERE PROTECTED BY WALLS OF UP TO 12 METERS HIGH AND ARE EVIDENCE OF THE GREAT CITY-PLANNING DEVELOPMENT THAT THIS CULTURE HAD REACHED.

Data:
- The city of Chan Chan was founded in century IX A.D.
- It is located in the valley of Moche, five kilometers from the city of

  Trujillo, La Libertad.
- The culture Chimu was developed between the centuries IX and XV

  A.D.
- It was declared Cultural Heritage of Mankind by UNESCO in 1986.

THE CHIMU CULTURE
Heirs of the cultures Mochica, Lambayeque, Sican and others, the Chimues constituted a powerful regional state that included a territory of over a thousand kilometers long that covered the Peruvian North coast, between Tumbes and the River Valley of Huarmey. Their culture development took place between the years 900 and 1430 A.D. Later, they fell under the power of the Incan Empire.
Its main economic activity was the agriculture. They skillfully used the underground waters and the rivers to irrigate their fields through the use of a complex system of channels. They also reached remarkable development in ceramics and gold work.

METROPOLIS OF ITS TIME
At its time of greater splendor (century XV A.D.), the city of Chan Chan, which was inhabited by a population of 30,000 inhabitants, occupied a surface of 20 square kilometers; something around twice the size of the district of Miraflores, in Lima. Up to date, 14 square kilometers have been preserved, divided in two zones: one rural, of 8 square kilometers and the other, an urban zone, where they agglutinated several citadels in 6 square kilometers. The governors and the Chimu’s elite used to live in the city center, in palaces built with adobe, mud, wood and “totora” (water straw). Ten structures of this type have been identified, also called citadels. But the best well-known and better restored is the Tschudi palace, which has an L form and walls decorated with lines that represent sea waves. Also, stands out the citadel of Rivero, which has a double peripheral wall; the citadel of Chimu, whose walls measure up to 12 meters high, and the citadel of Velarde, where 18 wood soldiers were found buried in equal number of niches. These wood soldiers, eighty centimeters high, have lances in their hands and their faces are covered with red color masks

RESIDENTIAL ZONE
Opposite the central area of the citadels, there are 32 enclosures built with adobe that have some similarities with the structure from the palaces: they have water wells, patios and deposits. It is believed that these served as residential spaces, but also administrative. In them, the low hierarchy nobility used to live and were dedicated to production control and to collect State taxes.

PERIPHERY OF THE CITY
On the outskirts of the citadels, towards the south and the west, there were four popular districts, where farmers, craftsmen, and servants of the Chimu kingdom used to live. In this zone, most of the population was concentrated. The houses, distributed without any apparent order or planning, were made of “quincha” (mud and cane mixture) and were small, unlike inside the citadels, where a great architectonic level is appreciated. There are left very few vestiges of these peripheral constructions, all them currently are in a precarious state.

HERITAGE IN DANGER
Chan Chan has been considered a Mankind Heritage since 1986. That same year, the UNESCO included this archaeological site in its list of world heritage areas in danger. The erosion caused by underground water and filtrations are some of the threats that Chan Chan confronts. Also, it has to be mentioned the disordered urban growth of surrounding towns and the interest of several farmers in cultivating within the protected area. During the year 2004, water filtrations reached the palace of Tschudi and damaged its walls and caused the sliding of some structures like those of the water reservoir. The opportune water drainage avoided greater damages to the complex. The work of the National Institute of Culture and some industrialists of Trujillo to reforest the borders of the complex are remarkable. Nevertheless, the difficulties for the execution of the plan for the Chan Chan handling and the recent proliferation of wild vegetation in the Uhle palace jeopardize the conservation of this zone. Nonetheless, in August, 2006, the Committee of the World Heritage congratulated Peru because its efforts for the conservation of Chan Chan.
Photos: (1) water filtrations, (2) wild vegetation (3)walls erosion, these are three of the threats for the conservation of the complex

OTHER SITES OF CHIMU
The Chimues were great city planners and architects. Aside from Chan Chan, other archaeological sites demonstrate it: Pacatnamu, in the valley of Pacasmayo; Apurlec, in the north of Motupe and the Purgatorio, in the valley of La Leche. Pacatnamu and the Purgatorio, of Mochica origin, were later occupied by the Chimues. Apurlec, on the other hand, stands out with its pyramids, deposits, and extensive streets, as well as by its channels and cultivation fields.

TOURISM
To go by car to Chan Chan from the city of Trujillo only takes ten minutes. Once in the citadel, you can walk round an intricate labyrinth of passages, truncate pyramids, squares, houses, workshops, walls and roads. Also there is a site museum inaugurated in 1990, administered by the branch of the National Institute of Culture in Trujillo. In it, all the evolutionary and historical process of the valley of Moche is explained, and additionally, it is possible to appreciate objects that belonged to the Chimu culture.

Web pages:
- UNESCO http://whc.unesco.org
- INC http://www.perupatrimonio.com.pe

The Ceremonial Center Of Pachacamac

THIS COMPLEX, LOCATED IN THE OUTSKIRTS DE LIMA, IS FORMED BY GREAT PYRAMIDAL TEMPLES AND BUILDINGS WITH ACCESSING RAMPS. IT WAS CONSECRATED TO THE MOST IMPORTANT DEITY OF THE CENTRAL COAST: GOD PACHACAMAC. IT WAS A SACRED PLACE FOR SEVERAL CULTURES FOR MORE THAN 1,500 YEARS.

Data:
It is located in the district of Lurin at 31 kilometers, south of Lima.
The archeological complex occupies an area of 492 hectares.

THE DEITY
Up to now, only one representation of the God Pachacamac is known, which was discovered in 1938 by the Peruvian investigator Alberto Giesecke when he was making investigations in the temple of Pachacamac. The deity appears in a wood piece of fifty centimeters, whose inferior part is inlaid in the earth. The piece has two faces that look towards opposite sides and is decorated with anthropomorphous figures, felines and serpents. In “quechua” (Native Peruvian language), Pachakamaq means “maker of the universe”. Its name is mentioned in several chronicle stories. Miguel de Estete, the first to arrive at the complex, narrates that the veneration to this deity was carried out as follows: “shrinking the shoulders, inclining the head and the body, raising the eyes to the sky and lowering them to the ground”.

THE ARCHEOLOGICAL ZONE
Pachacamac occupies 492 hectares. A lagoon denominated Urpiwachak is located in the western area and an extensive wall constructed with adobe and stones are appreciated in the northern zone. Towards the northeast and southeast there are small hills, where the different cultures that occupied this place constructed temples, squares, deposits, streets, housing sectors and cemeteries. The temple of the Sun, the temple of Pachacamac, the Old temple and a set of constructions with ramps and patios stand out among other constructions. Pachacamac was occupied by settlers of diverse cultures due to its condition of sacred place and to its strategic position in one of the most fertile valleys of the Peruvian central coast. The first evidence of occupation dates from the year 200 A.D. approximately. From that moment, up to 1533, when the Spaniards arrived, the place was uninterruptedly inhabited.

THE ICHMA PERIOD
The Ichma culture was a “curacazgo” (territory ruled by an Indian chief) that developed between the years 900 and 1450 A.D. in the valleys of Lurin and Rimac, before the arrival of the Incas. The Ichmas constructed at least 16 new pyramids in Pachacamac, which served as residential spaces and ceremonial centers. These are characterized for having platforms which are connected by means of ramps.

HUARI OCCUPATION
The Huari culture was developed between the years 600 and 900 A.D., mainly in the mountain chains of Ayacucho, but its influence area extended to many territories of the central coast. The construction of the temple of Pachacamac is attributed to this culture; the temple is characterized for having great painted steps with many colors and figures of people, plants, and fish. On the foot of this temple, the archaeologist Max Uhle discovered a cemetery with mummies dressed with elaborated textiles.

FIRST OCCUPANTS
The oldest evidence of human presence in the complex are ceramics with representations of serpents, fish and geometric figures, which are attributed to the culture of Lima. This civilization was developed in the valleys of the rivers Chancay, Chillón, Rimac and Lurin between the years 200 and 600 A.D. One of the most representative constructions built by the first inhabitants of the place was the Old temple, a pyramid of adobe with an entrance door covered by a fabric on which different objects like spondylus shells were stuck. Also, the temple of Urpiwachak and other buildings of minor size like the Adobitos group stand out.

THE INCAS IN PACHACAMAC
The Incas occupied Pachacamac from the middle of the 15th century until the arrival of the Spanish conquerors. Under its dominion, the place maintained its importance as a ceremonial center. The Incas respected the deity of Pachacamac and they included it between their Gods. During their occupation, the temple of the Sun was built, which reaches a height of twenty meters and is formed by four bodies of truncate pyramids, superimposed by one on top of the other. Other constructions of Incan origin are the Acllahuasi (shown in the photos), a place where women used to live dedicating themselves to weaving and knitting the clothes to be worn by the Inca, among other things; the square of the travelers and the palace of Tauri Chumpi, the last Incan governor of the city.

INVESTIGATIONS
The German archaeologist Max Uhle was one of the first to make excavations in the area, in 1896. Other outstanding experts who have worked in the place are the American Alberto Giesecke (1938-1939), Julio Cesar Tello (1940-1941) and archaeologists William Duncan Strong and John M.Corbett (1941). From the decade of 1970, the National Institute of Culture, through a site museum, is in charge of organizing programs of excavation and restoration in the monumental site.

THREATS
During the last thirty years, the urban expansion, south of Lima, has put in danger the archaeological zone. City-planning projects, land traffic and invasions are constant threats to this important architectural center. To date, walls and part of an Incan road have disappeared, and it is estimated that forty percent of the archaeological complex of Pachacamac corresponds to the monumental area that is currently preserved and protected; the rest is buried down in the surrounding areas.

SITE MUSEUM
All over Peru, there are 29 site museums. Of them, those of Pachacamac and Chan Chan are, according to the INC. the most visited. The site museum of Pachacamac was founded on November 21st, 1965, by Arturo Jiménez Borja, Peruvian investigator of pre-Hispanic cultures and medical doctor of profession, who carried out excavations in this complex between 1958 and 1960. The museum is located within the archaeological zone in kilometer 31.5 of the old southern Pan-American Highway. In it, are exposed mainly ceramics and textiles that have been found in the excavations. In addition, information on the occupation of the ceremonial center throughout pre-Hispanic history and guided visits to the temple of the Sun and the Acllahuasi are offered.

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