Northern Peru Pre-Inca Societies
I went to Trujillo on the nothern coast of Peru to see the famous ruins of the Moche and Chimu civilizations. Trujillo is in a desert and it is the second largest city in Peru with two million residents. It is a dump although the old colonial section is quite nice and there are some good archaeological reasons to be there. The Moche people were spread over the coastal area during a period (100 BC – 650 AD) when it was not such a desert and was actually lush. Imagine that, another example of the Earth’s environment changing drastically before the Industrial Age!
The Moche built two temples (Huaca del Sol and Huaca de la Luna – these are actually colonial names based on similar temples in Mexico, but they had nothing to do with the Sun and Moon) just south of current day Trujillo. The desert swallowed the temples whole including the city of thousands that sat in between. After the Spaniards partially raided them, they were forgotten until recent archaelogical digs. The Spaniard conquerors basically tried to raid every Incan and pre-Incan site with the singular goal of sending every ounce of gold and silver back to their kings and queens in Spain. Huaca del Sol has not really been excavated yet due to funding issues, but Huaca del Luna´s excavation is complete. The goal at these sites is to excavate and protect, but not restore. Huaca del Luna is a pyramid which was rebuilt every hundred years (5-7 different layers) and the Moche built the newest pyramid on top of the previous increasing its size each time. We saw five layers or pyramids in one place. The artwork was very well preserved and quite outstanding. Only in a desert could a mud building with brilliantly painted mud reliefs be in such good condition after 1500-2000 years.
The Chimu people followed the Moche and they built the largest city (30,000 residents) in South America called Chan Chan just north of Trujillo between the 9th and 15th centuries or over the few hundred years just prior to the rise of the Inca. This city was also built of mud, but was not in very good condition like Huaca del Luna because it is exposed to the elements including El Nino rains. I went to Trujillo specifically to see Chan Chan and while I did enjoy my stay I did not like it as much as Huaca del Luna. Mainly, I think they have gone a bit overboard on the restoration. The site covers 20 square kilometers and I would have been perfectly happy walking through the decimated areas rather than 21st Century restored locations which may or may not be representative of what really existed.
Chan Chan has large and small pools which I believe supplied the city with water for human, animal and plant consumption. As with every pre-Colombian site, there was probably a religious aspect to them, too. We came across one large pool with reeds and water lilies and a Peruvian Hairless dog. Although the guide was speaking in Spanish, I determined that she did not like the presense of the dog and there was something about the dog and penguins. I was wondering what her beef with the dog was all about because every site has at least one and it makes sense since they are nice dogs and they are depicted in many reliefs because they were there when the Chimu and Moche lived there. And then I was wondering what on earth she could have meant by penguins. So, I finally asked her to explain in English and she told me that five penguins who lived in the pond were killed by the dog. We walked a bit further and I was staring out at the surrounding desert and I started to wonder why penguins would be in the desert kilometers from the ocean. It finally dawned on me that humans had captured the penguins and placed them where they did not belong. I couldn´t hold back because I am so tired of stupid human tricks involving animals and told her the real problem was not the dog who belonged here, but the humans that put penguins here. She was a bit miffed. So was I…
I thought the archaelogical sites would take two days to see, but I was done in one day due to having a taxi drive me around. Trujillo was easy to see in a day. So, I made a decision to go see the best archaelogical site and museum in Northern Peru on my last day. This involved a three hour bus ride north to Chiclayo, doing an eight hour tour in a van through very rugged areas and then three hours back to Trujillo. It was a very long day, but I will never forget seeing the site where the Lord of Sipan was discovered and seeing the bounty found in his intact tomb as well as fourteen other tombs that the Spaniards had fortunately missed. This was another Moche site and it is probably the greatest archaelogical find in the Americas. The two or three sites that we went to were quite interesting although I was not overwhelmed after seeing so much in Trujillo area and the monotony of the desert in this area started to get to me. But we finished the day with a visit to the Royal Tombs of Sipan museum and this was nothing short of spectacular and made the long day well worth it. The gold, silver, copper and precious stone pieces as well as the ceramics and other belongings were outrageous. I believe they compare well with the holdings at the Cairo Museum although that will remain to be seen. They certainly held up to the Museo del Oro´s gold in Bogota. The museum presented them in a wonderful way and I would say it was set up as well as any museum you will ever find. Unfortunately, they allowed no photos to be taken. If you ever get to Peru, I highly recommend getting to this location.
Tags: peru, south america, Travel
vagabondrick
Sounds great. I have been reading lots of SA, especially Peru as I am hoping to take Scott there during Christmas vacation. What nteresting cultures throughout the entire area.