In the 16th century, Spanish colonists executed the last Inca emperor, Atahualpa, marking the end of the ancient Andean civilization. In the three or four hundred years from the rise of the Inca Empire to the expansion of the Inca Empire, other civilizations coexisted in the land of Peru. In the exhibition of Peruvian Andean civilizations, which is now being held in the Museum of the Capital, you can learn about that glorious period through cultural relics.
Today comes the fourth unit of the exhibition, The Empire (c. 1100-1572 AD)
Around 1000 AD, with the gradual disintegration of the vari of the central highland region of Peru and the regime of Diawanaco in the south, the newly created political forces continued to clash. Around 1100 AD, in the northern coastal region, the decline of the Xikan culture in the middle period and the disintegration of its political power gave The Qimu (also known as "Qimu") a good opportunity to develop. With the city of Changchang in the Moche River Basin as its capital, it began territorial expansion along the coastline and eventually became the hegemon of the north-central coastal region at the end of the 14th century. However, in the later years of Chimu's expansion, the Incas, located in the Cusco region of the southern highlands of Peru, continued to grow in various ways. At the end of the 15th century, the Empire established by the Incas annexed the Chimu Kingdom, becoming the largest political system established by the Indians on the American continent. In the first half of the 16th century, with the arrival of Spanish colonists in South America, the Inca Empire was doomed to collapse.
Schematic diagram of the distribution of Chimu and incas
Around the 10th century AD, the Chimu Kingdom (1140-1470) gradually conquered the Sikan culture and developed into the most powerful and richest state in the coastal region, and at its peak its control stretched north to the border between present-day Peru and Ecuador (present-day Tunbes) and south to the vicinity of lima, the capital of present-day Peru, controlling the political, economic and social life of more than twenty river valleys along the northern coast. In the area under its rule, agriculture is well developed, the population is large, the skills, especially the metallurgical technology, and the trade network has been formed with the coastal areas of Ecuador and beyond, in order to obtain various precious resources. By the second half of the 14th century, the Kingdom of Chemu had completely conquered Sikan and dominated the coastal areas, becoming the strongest enemy of the Inca Empire, which began to expand at high altitudes at the same time.
Ruins of the ancient city of Changchang
The Chimu people have no writing, and the language may be "Yunca" or "Moche", which has long since died.
The ancient city of Changchang, the capital of Chemu, is located in a desert area 4 km northwest of the city of Trullo in northern Peru, and the ruins excavated today cover an area of 36 square kilometers. Since there were no stones nearby, the Chimu people used clay, gravel and shells to grind into a fine powder, mixed with water to form and then burned into adobe bricks, the size and shape of which depended on different buildings. In 1462, Chemu and the Inca Empire began a long war, and in 1470 Chimu was finally defeated by the Inca Empire, and the tenth Chimu king Minqiang Kaman was captured alive and taken to The Inca capital Cusco. After all, the family is the king, it is estimated that the Incas also pay attention to the "door to the door", they married the daughter of the Inca king Pachakuti Inca Yupanji to the captured King Chimu, and later gave birth to a son Chumonkur, Chimu naturally became a vassal state of the Inca Empire, and after 7 years, the ancient city of Changchang was completely abandoned. However, the Incas never exterminated other cultures, not only moving the skilled craftsmen in the ancient city of Changchang to Cusco, but also absorbing some of the Chimu culture, such as allowing the conquered to have a certain degree of autonomy and learning the metal smelting techniques of the Chimu people.
Location of Changchang Ancient City
Changchang, which means "sun" in the Chimu language, was the largest city in South America before Columbus arrived in the Americas in 1493. Unfortunately, the city was abandoned by then, and Europeans did not see how life was like for the Chimu, but only got some legends from the Incas. The buildings in the ancient city are built layer by layer in the shape of "Pin", which is very strong, and the entire city is completely made of earthen bricks, which is the largest preserved earthen city ruins in the world and a masterpiece of South American architecture. Archaeologists have found that the urban layout is very planned, with streets crisscrossed by residential areas, workshop areas, cisterns, prisons, temples, granaries, etc., covering an area of 6.5 square kilometers, and has a complex and efficient waterway system. Judging from the waterways, about 50,000-100,000 people live in the city. The central area is home to 10 rectangular large-scale complex castle buildings, which are royal settlements and serve as royal residences, storage rooms, mausoleums and administrative centers. Each castle building is about 400 meters long and 200 meters wide, with walls 9-12 meters high, forming its own independent units. The perimeter of the palace was inhabited by noble residences and low-ranking servants and craftsmen. The construction of the castle coincided with each other, and some people think that it may have been the royal palace of the monarch during his lifetime, and after his death it became his mausoleum. This custom also spread to the Inca Dynasty, and the ancient city of Changchang was also known as the "City of Castles". Eroded by nature and destroyed by tomb robbers, this world-famous ancient city is in jeopardy. As early as 1986, at the 10th session of the World Heritage Assembly, it was inscribed on the World Heritage list in Danger.
Palace walls (this image from the official website of Peruvian Heritage)
This "decorative wooden male sculpture", collected by the Changchang Ruins Museum of Vanchaco, Peru, is 56 cm high, 20 cm wide and 10 cm thick, with painted faces and inlaid shells on various parts of the eyes and body.
The palace walls are made of millions of naturally dried adobe bricks and decorated with clay reliefs, and 20 simple, intricately decorated male sculptures of standing wood are placed in niches on the corridors. Of these, 19 are well preserved, and only one is mothed by termites. The sculptures are arranged in rows in the alcove of the corridor, and one of them is seen in the exhibition hall. Archaeologists speculate that they represented the funerary members. (That is to say, instead of using living people to accompany the burial, but with sculptures)
In addition to the ancient city of Changchang, two pyramid buildings, Huaca el Dragon and Huaca Tacaynamo, not far away, also have such sculptures.
The shell inlaid on the sculpture is the sea chrysanthemum clam, which today lives only in the warm coastal waters near Ecuador. The Chemu regarded it as a symbol of divine power and an important luxury in the trade between the Chemu and Ecuador at that time
Judging from the various excavated cultural relics of the Chimu culture, the pottery is most characteristic of black pottery. Stirrup-shaped artifacts in pottery have been found in several cultures along the northern coast of Peru and continued into the Chimu culture; the Gainaso culture's siamese bottles were also borrowed by Chimu. In addition, Chimu's intricate hammering process was influenced by the craftsmanship of Thekkam Metal. Therefore, while the Chimu culture continues to grow and expand, it shows the characteristics of pluralism and integration.
For example, this "black clay vase of official residence sculpture", collected by the National Museum of Archaeology and Anthropological History of Peru, shows a picture of a manager in the official residence.
According to archaeologists, this clay vase was a funerary object of the princes and nobles. After the death of the Andean nobility, craftsmen often made pottery architectural models to place in tombs, from highly abstract temples and palaces to elaborate architectural complexes, in order to reflect their status or religious rituals. At that time, people believed that the deceased person was not dead, but "living in another place", so the actual building of the deceased was highly restored.
This "black pottery siamese bottle" is in the collection of the La Luc Museum and is 27 cm long, 14 cm wide and 19.8 cm high. Although there are two bottle bodies, connected by a curved bridge handle in the middle, there is only one cylindrical outlet that protrudes straight up from the single-mouth bottle. Nine figures are shaped on the square bottle, which seems to be holding a celebration. Near the handle stands a figure wearing a crescent moon headdress, speculating that it may be the leader of the group or the remains of a respected ancestor. In ancient Andean cultures, preserving the remains of deceased ancestors and making regular worships were very important rituals. It is believed that these ancestors would bring well-being to the living. In addition, other figures on the clay vase are either participating in ceremonies, pouring drinks from jars, and beating drums.
This "Hammer Craft Silver Cup", collected by the National Museum of Archaeology and Anthropological History of Peru, is 22.6 cm high and 19.2 cm wide, and the decorative patterns and manufacturing techniques are clearly influenced by the Sikan culture, reflecting the Chimu people riding on crescent-shaped reed boats and holding bamboo oars. To this day, this fishing boat can still be seen in Peru and can accommodate 1-2 people and fishing tools. Peru relies on mountains and water, and fishing is very important for all ethnic groups in coastal areas.
Smelting techniques such as gold, silver, and alloys have been mastered in the Chimu culture, and even in the foil metal processing technology with a gold-silver surface, the gold content can be as low as 12%, and it can also be decorated with intricate patterns on the utensils. Although it may seem less practical, the artistry has increased considerably.
After conquering Xikan, the Chemu people absorbed the textile technology of Xikan to improve their own technical level and make the fabric more exquisite. During the Chemu period, cotton thread and alpaca wool were the most commonly used textile materials, and colored dyes were produced from plants such as walnut or minerals such as clay, of which red and yellow were the most commonly used. Techniques such as plain weave, double fabric weaving, tapestry weaving, embroidery, weft tapesting, reticulated aya, tie-dye and feather weaving can be found everywhere in textiles. According to the research of archaeologist Junius Bode in the 1950s, the Chimu people's costume has three main parts: the Ongku (i.e., the "tunic with sleeves"), the fig leaf covering the lower body, and the shroud with or printed with human or animal patterns. Because Chemu society had no money, people used textiles to pay taxes and tributes.
Finally, let's take a look at this set of "tops and aprons", collected by the La Luc Museum. These two tops and aprons with tassels are an organization brocade suit, which is the aforementioned "Ongku". The garment is vertically draped with geometric patterns and anthropomorphic images. These rows of upright figures also appear to be dressed in similar fringed costumes. Both the skirt and the bottom of the blouse are decorated with a row of patterns, as if the figure is bent over and the long hair is floating upwards. Look closely, these somewhat cute "human" feet are again two toes, with the characteristics of camels. Unfortunately, it has not yet been possible to interpret their true meaning.
The whole set of brocade patterns is delicate and vivid, and the colors are bright and rich, which is the representative of the superb textile technology of the Chimu people.
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【Author:Desert Rose】
Global travel expert, travel experience engineer, freelance writer, guest host. He has traveled to nearly 50 countries and more than 200 cities on five continents.