Another bus
ride yesterday brought us to Chiclayo, three hours from Trujillo. For a city of 600,000 there isn’t much
to do if you aren’t interested in brujos,
the witches and shamans that the city is known for. But it is a good base for exploring the Sican and Chimu
cultural sites. We checked into a
hotel and after lunch we took a collectivo to the Museo Tumas Reales de Sipan
(Museum of the Royal Tombs of Sipan) in nearby Lambayeque. It is brand new and houses the gold and
jewelery removed from the tombs and reassembled just as they were when
found. Photos aren't permitted but trust us, this place is so great it should be a model for other cultural and archeological museums. I especially liked the
photos, mostly from National Geographic who sponsored the dig, showing the
stages of the discoveries and other photos detailing the cleaning and
restoration techniques.
On Saturday
we hired a taxi to visit the surrounding sites, including Sipan. Here it gets a little confusing, at
least for me. The Sican, who built
Sipan, were probably descendants of the Moche and were contemporaries of the
Chimu but the culture is also referred to as Lambayeque for the region. Because the goodies from Sipan are in
the museum replicas are displayed in the actual tombs but the digging continues
nearby. The story of the discovery
is interesting. It begins in 1987
when a local archeologist noticed a number of intricate objects for sale on the
black market which he traced back to the site. What were generally considered earthen hills were in fact
adobe brick pyramids dating from 300 AD.
Dr. Alva got
the police to protect the site from looters, sometimes violently, and hired
locals, themselves former tomb raiders, to help with the excavation. This is all documented in two NatGeo articles from 1988 and 1990,
which Connie read from our digital NG
archives. Despite the immense
wealth of the Lord of Sipan, it was dangerous to be a close family member or
even a pet. Wives, children and
even llamas were buried alongside the boss.
At Ferrenafe
we visited only the small museum because the actual site, which existed from
750 until 1375 is difficult to reach and the museum has good replicas of the
tombs. Again the tombs contain
multiple bodies, some in strange positions. One lord had his head removed and is buried upside
down. Another tomb contains one
man and 22 women.
Tucume, the
last site we visited, is over 20 hectares in size. Little has been excavated and it shows the damage from many
el Ninos. There are 26 separate
pyramids built by the Sicans and later by the Chimu people. Archeologists believe that each pyramid
was abandoned after a cataclysmic el Nino event which the people interpreted as
the wrath of their gods. They then
constructed a newer more elaborate one in an attempt at appeasement.
None of
these civilizations, including the Inca, had a written language so most of what
is known comes from murals, carvings and ceramics found at the sites. More is known of the Incas because
Spanish historians observed their lifestyles and customs. Many of their stone buildings and
temples still stand but the mud brick of the Chimu and Moche aren’t nearly as
durable. Even those that have been
covered by sand for centuries begin to disintegrate as soon as they are
excavated.
