Chapter 39

The Chimú Empire

JERRY D. MOORE AND CAROL J. MACKEY

INTRODUCTION

The Chimú Empire was one of the largest pre-Hispanic New World states, dominating
much of the north coast of Peru between ca. AD 900 to 1470 when conquered by the rival
Inca Empire. The Chimú capital, Chan Chan, was established between AD 900–1000 on
a flat plain near the Pacific Ocean, some seven kilometers north of the Moche River. By
the fifteenth century Chan Chan had developed into one of the largest urban settlements in
the pre-Hispanic Americas and the Chimú state had evolved into one of the most powerful
polities in Andean prehistory.
The 1604 Anonymous History of Trujillo contains a brief account of Chimú origins
(Rowe 1948: 28–30). A foreign noble named Taycanamo arrived in the Moche Valley,
disembarking from a balsa log raft like those from far northern Peru and claiming to be
sent by a great lord, from across the sea. For a year he remained sequestered in his house,
practicing rituals and learning the local language. Gaining prestige and respect, Tayca-
namo was given local women for wives, became entitled Chimor Capac, and established a
dynasty. His son succeeded to the throne and consolidated control over the lower Moche
Valley, while Taycanamo’s grandson conquered the upper Moche Valley and expanded
the kingdom south to the Santa Valley and north to the Zaña Valley. Taycanamo’s eighth
successor, Minchançaman, led the kingdom to its apogee, conquering 200 leagues of the
coastal plain as far north as Tumbes. It was Minchançaman’s fate to be confronted by the Inca
army, led by Topa Inca Yupanqui. The Chimú resisted, but were defeated and despoiled.
Minchançaman was exiled, but his heirs—firmly under Inca control—occupied the Chimú
throne until the lords of Cuzco themselves fell to Spain.
This intriguing legend of dynastic foundation and expansion has been revised and
modified by over five decades of archaeological research, which has explored the com-
plexities of statecraft, social order, worldview and religion in the Kingdom of Chimor. The
Chan Chan-Moche Valley Project (1969–1974) was a pivotal investigation, as its members
developed an influential model of Chimú social organization and imperial administration
Handbook of South American Archaeology, edited by Helaine Silverman and William H. Isbell.
Springer, New York, 2008

783
784 J.D. Moore and C.J. Mackey

that was derived from the study of architecture, settlement patterns, and associated artifacts
from Chan Chan and other sites in the Chimú heartland of the Moche, Chicama, and Virú
valleys (see, inter alia, Moseley and Cordy-Collins 1990; Moseley and Day 1982; Moseley
and Mackey 1973, 1974). Subsequent investigations have expanded these understandings
with new research at Chimú provincial centers and smaller settlements, as well as inves-
tigations into the peripheries of the kingdom of Chimor. In the following discussion we
summarize patterns of imperial expansion and incorporation, first considering Chan Chan
and the Chimú heartland and then examining the northern and southern expansions of the
Chimú state. We then discuss Chimú worldview, religion, and social order, and conclude
with a discussion of the disruptions and continuities on the north coast after the Inca
conquest of Chimor.

CHAN CHAN: PATTERNS OF AN URBAN SOCIETY

The capital of Chimor, Chan Chan, dominated the Chimú heartland in every imaginable
dimension. It was by far the largest Chimú site, with a maximum extent of 20 km2 and a
densely occupied urban core covering 6 km2. It was the most populous settlement with
an estimated 30,000–40,000 inhabitants, dwarfing any other known Chimú settlement
in the Moche Valley or beyond (Moseley 1975; Topic and Moseley 1983; Figure 39.1).
Chan Chan was the major metropole, the center to which labor and resources flowed,
and this is reflected by extensive storerooms, the concentration of craft production, and
the diversion of agricultural produce to the non-farming urban populace (Keatinge and
Day 1973). Chan Chan’s urban pattern evolved over time (Conklin 1990; Kolata 1990;
Moore 1996a).
Four major classes of architecture characterize Chan Chan’s built environment: 1)
vast, walled royal compounds or palaces called ciudadelas, 2) smaller adobe walled elite
compounds, 3) commoner residences (known as SIAR for “small, irregular, agglutinated
rooms”), and 4) four large mounds or huacas.
Ten ciudadales dominate Chan Chan’s urban landscape. They are large enclosures
surrounded by adobe brick and tapia walls up to 9 m tall. The compounds range from
67,300 m2 to 212,000 m2 in area and enclose from 113 to 907 rooms and interior spaces.
Ciudadelas were entered via a single north-facing door, and internal access was labyrnthine
and restricted (Day 1973, 1982; Moseley 1975; Moore 1992, 1996a).
The ciudadelas were constructed at different times. There is a general consensus
about the broad sequence of construction. Chayhuac, Uhle, and Tello are thought to be the
earliest ciudadelas; Velarde, Bandelier, Tschudi and Rivero among the latest; and Squier,
Laberinto and Gran Chimú erected in between (Cavallero 1991; Conrad 1982; Day 1973;
Kolata 1978, 1982, 1990; Netherly 1990; Topic and Moseley 1983). The order of construc-
tion progressed from the south to north and then back to the south, as each ciudadela’s
construction modified Chan Chan’s urban pattern.
Ciudadelas incorporated spaces for the living and the dead. The ciudadelas prob-
ably served as palaces, each associated with a different ruler (Moseley 1982; Pillsbury and
Leonard 2004). While Rowe (1995: 30) suggested that ciudadelas were non-residential
mausoleums, the presence of kitchens in the compounds (Figure 39.1) and dense con-
centrations of domestic debris in the large open courtyards (canchones) in the rear of the
compounds suggest that the ciudadelas were residences for Chimú kings, the royal family,
and their retainers (Day 1982a: 61).