LORD OF SIPÁN

The Lord of Sipán (El Señor de Sipán) is the name given to the first of several
Moche mummies found at Huaca Rajada, Sipán, Peru by archaeologist Walter
Alva. The site was discovered in 1987.
Some archaeologists consider this find to be one of the most important
archaeological discoveries in South America in the last 30 years, as the main
tomb was found intact and untouched by thieves. By 2007, fourteen tombs had
been located and identified at Huaca Rajada.
The Royal Tombs of Sipán Museum was constructed in nearby Lambayeque to
hold most of the artifacts and interpret the tombs. It opened in 2002 and Dr. Alva
is director.
The Moche tombs at Huaca Rajada are located near the town of Sipán in the
middle of the Lambayeque Valley. Sipán is in the Zaña district in the northern
part of Peru. Close to the coast, it is about 20 miles east of the city of Chiclayo
and about 30 miles away from Lambayeque.
Huacas like Huaca Rajada were built by the Moche and other South American
cultures as monuments. The Huaca Rajada monument consists of two small
adobe pyramids plus a low platform. The platform and one of the pyramids were
built before 300 CE by the Moche; the second pyramid at Huaca Rajada was
built about 700 CE by a later culture. Many huacas were looted by the Spanish
during and after the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire; the looting of huacas
continues to be a problem in many locations.
Scientific analysis of the skeleton of the Lord of Sipán show that he was
approximately 1.63 meters tall and was about 35-45 years old at the time of his
death. His jewelry and ornaments, which included headdresses, a face mask, a
pectoral, (the pectoral was gold and had the head of a man and the body of an
octopus) necklaces, nose rings, ear rings and other items, indicate he was of
the highest rank. Most of the ornaments were made of gold, silver, copper and
semi-precious stones.
 CHAVÍN DE HUÁNTAR
Chavín de Huántar is an archaeological site in Peru, containing ruins and
artifacts constructed beginning at least by 1200 BC and occupied by later
cultures until around 400-500 BC by the Chavín, a major pre-Inca culture. The
site is located in the Ancash Region, 250 kilometers (160 mi) north of Lima, at
an elevation of 3,180 meters (10,430 ft), east of the Cordillera Blanca at the
start of the Conchucos Valley. Chavín de Huántar has been designated a
UNESCO World Heritage Site. Some of the Chavín relics from this
archaeological site are on display in the Museo de la Nación in Lima and the
Museo Nacional de Chavín in Chavin itself.
Occupation at Chavín de Huántar has been carbon dated to at least 3000 BC,
with ceremonial center activity occurring primarily toward the end of the second
millennium, and through the middle of the first millennium BC. While the fairly
large population was based on an agricultural economy, the city's location at the
headwaters of the Marañón River, between the coast and the jungle, made it an
ideal location for the dissemination and collection of both ideas and material
goods. This archeological site is a large ceremonial center that has revealed a
great deal about the Chavín culture. Chavín de Huántar served as a gathering
place for people of the region to come together and worship. The transformation
of the center into a valley-dominating monument had a complex effect; it
became a pan-regional place of importance. People went to Chavin de Huantar
as a center: to attend and participate in rituals, consult an oracle, or enter a cult.
Findings at Chavín de Huántar indicate that social instability and upheaval
began to occur between 500 and 300 BCE, at the same time that the larger
Chavín civilization began to decline. Large ceremonial sites were abandoned,
some unfinished, and were replaced by villages and agricultural land. At Chavín
de Huántar, no later than 500 BCE, a small village replaced the Circular Plaza.
The plaza was occupied by a succession of cultural groups, and residents
salvaged building stones and stone carvings to use in house walls. Multiple
occupation floors indicate the village was continuously occupied through the
1940s.
The ceremonial and cultural nature of the site is evident in its architectural,
technological and symbolic creation, which is characterized by coated quarried
stone buildings and artificial terraces around plazas, containing an internal
gallery system with an intricate network of
vents and drains unprecedented in South
America. The Chavin Lanzón, the Raimondi
Stela, the Tello Obelisk, the Falconidae
Portico, the Circular Plaza and the tenon
heads, among others, are evidence of the
outstanding and monumental Chavin lithic art.
All of these features make the archaeological site a unique monument of
universal significance.