Chan Chan
From Wiki Sumaq Peru
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Introduction
Chan Chan was declared World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1986.Ciudadela of greater mud of pre-Columbian America, and 2ª of the world. It shows a high degree of space organization and includes 20 km square. It has a cultural meaning that is transformed in historical, aesthetic, cultural and social values. Considered an exceptional monument for the cultural identity of the region and the country, he is necessary his protected and protection for the present and the posterity.
The Phenomenon of the Boy in 1925 destroyed the magnificent mural of the Velarde Palace and the earthquakes, and at the moment elevated napa phreatic, added to the persistence of precarious agriculturists in the periphery of the site, constitutes the agents of I degrade more important against their preservation, is by which the MINCETUR and the INC. one have initiated the works of conservation and investigation in the Velarde Set, the extension of the Dren 12 Nº and the conservation and maintenance of the Mueso de Sitio.
Antecedents
From aims of the early interval (600 d.C.), and beginnings of the average horizon (700 d.C.) - phase Moche V in the North coast of Peru, arises new models from cities, where the main structure will not be solely a ceremonial pyramid, but a great amount of quarters and buildings surrounded by great walls (“canchones”), that accompany to this one like the most important part of the establishment. Chan Chan, have been being been present in the interest of the travellers and investigators for centuries.
He is why he postulates himself, that after the conquest Inca, Chan Chan (in a time, rival of the Cusco) he was sacked and destroyed (approximately in 1470) and when Pizarro arrived (1532) this city was only a pale reflection of its old splendor, inhabited by few people of little political and economic importance. During the time of the virreinato (1532 - 1821) Chan Chan it was object of multiple sackings and destructions, because the belief existed that between its walls and pyramids was hidden a great treasure in gold pieces and silver. And although there are no official data that endorse it, exists the legend of which several fortunes were originated of that way.
Just in century XIX, with appearing again of sciences, this city was studied with academic interest, travellers like Rivero, Tshudi, Hutchinson, Middendorf and Bandelier drew it, mapearon and described, asking itself for their origin and how it would have been the life the people who populated Chan Chan. Century XX inaugurates to archaeology like science, and the archaeologists do one of the main sources of knowledge of the past Peruvian. They emphasize the investigations of Bennet, Schaedel, Willey, Kosos, West, Mosley and Mackey.
Architecture
In order to construct this city own materials of the region were used. Ciudadelas was constructed using walls of marinates on united stone foundations with mud, wider in the base and narrow in the top. In order to construct floors, fillings of walls, inclines and platforms, they were used you marinate broken, along with earth, stones and other remainders. The wood was used to make posts, columns and thresholds. Also the cane was used the reed and the mat. The ceilings were made entretejiendo tied of straw.
One of the details that admire more the present visitors is the great beauty, variety and amount of walls decorated with altorrelieves. These were done with molds and decorated the walls of patios, hearings and runners, to the interior of ciudadelas.
The more common decorative reasons were the geometric combinations, but also the representations are common of fish and birds. For the Kolata archaeologist, Chan Chan was not constructed at a single moment, and on the basis of the study of it marinates proposes 3 moments in the urban history of this city.
Stage one, would correspond to the original nucleus, formed by ciudadelas Uhle and Chayhuac.Posteriormente grew towards the west, with Tello and Labyrinth, this last one, first in using the tripartite division of its near space. In stage two the constructions of the North sectors and the west are constructed to Great Chimú and. Stage 3 this marking by the construction of the 5 ciudadelas remaining.
Description
- This is an early example of city planning, with a rectangular grid structure, it was probably begun in the period from A.D. 950 to 1400, and it is estimated that it may have contained as many as 200,000 people. Chan Chan is generally accepted as the capital of the Chimu, a pre-Inca civilization.
- It is on a large plain of the coastal desert, which was made arable by extensive irrigation works. Covering c.11 sq mi (28 sq km), the city comprised at least 10 self-contained, walled-in units. The walls, built of adobe brick, are decorated with relief designs.
- The site of Chan Chan is well known for its wide streets and walled compounds. On average the streets were between fifteen and twenty-five feet wide. In some places the roads widened to more than eighty feet.
- The roads were used to bring in the treasures and people of conquered cities. The walls, built by slave labor, were constructed for both privacy and protection from the coastal winds. The extremely large walls were built as high as thirty-three feet tall. The materials used to create these massive walls were tapia and brick adobe. Similar materials were used in most of the Chan Chan’s architecture. Mud was also used to finish up the outside of the homes. A pattern of sorts would be scribed into the mud.
- The center of the city consisted of ten areas separated by the walls. The center of the city included pyramidal temples, cemeteries, gardens, reservoirs, and symmetrically arranged rooms, all within 10 walled citadels, or quadrangles.
- They were organized in a broken triangle type pattern. In the reservoirs there were walk-in wells which contained aquified water. The naturally occurring aquifer in the wells was not a plan of the engineers of the irrigation system, it was just the terrain of the land. Tombs with riches have also been found in these quadrangles.
- Most of these walls are still standing today, which shows the engineering abilities of the Chimu at Chan Chan. Apparently the quadrangles were used for living quarters, burial places and warehouses of the aristocracy. The death of a leader of the Chimu Empire caused the palace to be taken over by his kin in one of these broken triangles. Once a new leader was chosen a new broken triangle was built. Outside of the aristocracy people lived in modest quarters weaker in construction.
- The Chimu kingdom was the chief state in Peru prior to the Incan establishment. Its cultural antecedents were the Moche, or Mochica, formerly known as Proto-Chimu. The Chimu spoke a now extinct language called Yunca. There is no evidence of writing. Presumably, the Chimu had quite an intricate system of social-class stratification.
- Their economy centered on agriculture, with the aid of irrigation systems. Similar to many other ancient civilizations, the Chimu were craftspeople. They produced fine textiles such as gold, silver, and copper objects. Pottery was also popular among the people of Chan Chan.
- Between 1465 and 1470 they became overtaken by Incan rule. However, Spanish writers recorded much of the Chimu’s traditions and culture after the conquest.
- Due to many destructive elements the Chan Chan site was added to the List of World Heritage in Danger in 1986. Many precautions are being taken in order to preserve the once prosperous site.
References
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