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One of the last great powerful cities before
the establishment of the Inca Empire was Chan Chan,
the capital of the Chimu Kingdom for nearly
five centuries. The city reached its zenith in the
15th century, not long before the Incas invaded
and conquered Chan Chan, incorporating the Chimu Kingdom
into the Inca Empire. The highly organized city plan
reflects the strict system of political and social
stratification within the society. The site is composed
of nine separate walled ciudadellas, or citadels,
each containing its own temples, cemeteries, gardens,
wells and systematically arranged rooms. Due to the
material used in their construction, these adobe -
or earthen - structures are quickly and easily damaged.
Heavy rainfall and strong winds have destroyed many
of the mud-brick buildings, which require constant
repair and preservation.
The ruins of Chan Chan are situated along the Pacific
Ocean, just north of the modern city of Trujillo near
the mouth of the Moche River. The city covers an area
of about 25 square kilometres, and at its peak had a
population of nearly 50,000. At one time, the Chimu
controlled all of the northern and many of the central
coastal valleys of Peru. Agriculture was vital to their
existence, and the Chimu constructed an extensive irrigation
system of incredible engineering skill around Chan Chan
in order to irrigate their agricultural fields.
Archaeological evidence indicates that a number of
animals were bred at Chan Chan, including guinea pigs,
dogs and a species of llama that is extinct today.
The Chimu also excelled in the field of metallurgy,
working with both bronze and gold. But the Chimu will
probably be most remembered for the urban design of
their cities. In Chan Chan, each ciudadella represented
the palace compound of an individual Chimu king. The
monarch, as well as other members of the nobility,
would live inside the ciudadella, which also served
as an administrative centre and storage area for the
king's wealth. Upon his death, the king was interred
within the citadel in a burial mound, surrounded by
tokens of his wealth and up to 300 sacrificial victims.
ARCHITECTURE
Each ciudadella was its own self-contained unit
surrounded by nine-metre-high walls and accessible through
only one entrance. Within the walls the structures are
organized around one or more plazas, the main plaza
serving as a place to receive visitors or hold ceremonies.
A ciudadella would contain the king's residence as well
as quarters for his family and servants. The king's
treasures were kept in rows of storage rooms accessible
through a maze of corridors. Huge walk-in wells provided
an independent water supply for each ciudadella. The
majority of the city's population, however, lived outside
the citadels in small, irregularly grouped quarters.
Virtually all of the buildings and walls in Chan
Chan are profusely decorated with geometric patterns
and scenes from marine life. The ocean was obviously
important to the Chimu and aquatic images appear on
almost every building in Chan Chan. Traces of murals,
friezes and bas-relief stucco figures in the shape
of sea animals can be found everywhere. The Chimu
seem to have particularly venerated the sea lion,
whale and otter.
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