The Kingdom of Chimor

Andean Archaeology and Ethnohistory - Anthro 490: Class 21

The Late Intermediate Period: The Kingdom of Chimor

ã Copyright Bruce Owen 1998

Announcements
Chimor = Kingdom of Chimor = the political grouping of the Chimu culture

large; it encompassed

1000 km of Pacific coastline
two-thirds of the arable land on the desert coast
presumably, about two-thirds of the coastal population

the largest polity in the Andes in the Late Intermediate Period
notable for widespread, standardized corporate style of art and ideology

in ceramics
textiles
copper, bronze, gold, silver
carved wooden items
etc.

conquered by the Inka around 1470 AD

Chimu craft workers, especially metalworkers, provided much of the skill and labor for Inka luxury good production
and Chimor was a model for some Inka political and economic arrangements

arose out of the remnants of the Moche state(s), starting 700-800 AD

initially two areas each united first one valley, then several valleys into a state with a large capital

Sican to the north
and Chimor to the south

then Chimor conquered and incorporated Sican to form the full Chimor state or empire that was, in turn, conquered by the Inka

late enough that some oral history still remained to be recorded by early Spanish writers, despite Inka attempts to incorporate the area and break it up to prevent rebellion

Taycanamu dynasty, rulers of Chimor at Chan Chan, the capital city of Chimor

centralized rulers

Naymlap dynasty of the Lambayeque area, which Chimor eventually absorbed

confederacy

Probably really more complex than simple dynasties, since they probably had the dual organization structure with a señor and a segunda persona, each representing a part of the polity
ethnohistorical sources mix mythologized stories with more realistic accounts
and where they are roughly corroborated by archaeological evidence, they tend to compress centuries of development into a few generations of dramatic events, much as Inka lore did

Lambayeque origins and development

Lambayeque is a huge, wide, fertile valley on the far north coast

exploited using extensive irrigation systems
part of the north coast region that was said to be able to support multiple Moche rulers without need for conquering other valleys

Naymlap story

Naymlap, his wife, a greenstone idol, and a retinue including 40 officials arrive by sea on many balsas
establish their court at Chot

maybe the site of Chotuna, a complex of platform mounds and many-roomed adobe compounds with evidence of craft production
but work there did not find any definitive evidence linking it to the Naymlap story (not surprisingly -- what could?)

sons found additional centers, and 12 generations of leaders follow
Fempellec, the 12th leader, moves Naymlap's greenstone idol

causing 30 days of rain -- a disaster on the coast of Peru

possibly a bad El Nino?

so he is overthrown and dynastic rule breaks down

some time later, Chimor conquers and incorporates the area

no evidence of a literal invasion of foreigners from the sea

probably a rhetorical flourish
maybe leaders from the declining Moche capital of Pampa Grande?

as Moche V Pampa Grande lost regional power, highlanders from Cajamarca established colonies in the Lambayeque (and other north coast) valleys

may have been relatively neutral multiethnic settlement, if there was space
or may have involved conflict
but Cajamarca sites in coastal valleys don't appear particularly defensible

This period (700-900 AD) was ripe for change

decline of Moche meant that no state existed to control a corporate style
Cajamarca influence brought in new ideas
and Wari artifacts and influence
producing a new, synthetic north coast art (and presumably ideological) style: Sican

not to be confused with Sipan, the rich northern Moche burial mound site from centuries earlier
lots of stamped and molded decoration on polished blackwares

Middle Sican 900 - 1100 AD

mound construction increases dramatically
and a corporate style is formalized around the "Sican Lord"

again, not to be confused with the Moche "Lord of Sipan"
Moseley suggests that this figure represents Naymlap -- could be

perhaps ten polities in the Lambayeque area, each with a huge mound complex as its administrative center

Moseley is very reasonable in suggesting that the Naymlap story may have been adjusted after the fact to justify alliances between these centers by creating a common origin

Batan Grande, the biggest early and middle Sican site

in the Leche valley
monumental core is 4 square kilometers
over a dozen huge platform mounds

flat-topped
perpendicular ramps and ramps with bends
constructed by chamber and fill -- a "cheaper" way to make mounds that was adopted by the late Moche at Pampa Grande
with marked adobes for walls

apparent center of production of copper and bronze, especially "naipes" ("playing cards")

lots of copper smelting, refining, and working done at Batan Grande

on a large scale
comlexes of highly specialized shops that each did only one part of the whole process from ore to object

naipes

I-shaped copper or bronze sheet cutouts
often found in neat, tied bundles of up to hundreds of nearly-identical naipes
apparently a means of storing and exchanging wealth, like a currency
yet they are common at Batan Grande, but rare elsewhere

in Ecuador, there are "money axes", functionless sheetmetal cutouts that were used for exchange
but not naipes
so they weren't used for currency with outsiders? or...?

also other forms, like long, thin, concave "leaves" or spatulas

also found in tied stacks of many

probably other metal production done there, too, especially gold work, but shops are not as well documented

huge cemeteries with tens of thousands of burials

Batan Grande was presumably a desired burial place for higher-status people in a large surrounding region, not just the immediate occupants of the site
burials are seated and flexed, vs earlier extended position of Moche burials

Moseley suggests that this means a big change in ideology
maybe influenced by Wari's flexed burial tradition

some burials (mostly looted for private collectors) had incredible quantities of gold, copper/bronze, pottery, etc.

one looted burial had around 200 artifacts, including

gold and silver necklaces
gold keros with modelled faces
mummy masks
tumi knives
shell, turquoise, lapis, emerald inlays, pendants, and beads, etc.

another had

17 human sacrifices
lots of Spondylus, lapis, gold, etc.
over 500 kilos of copper, much of it in the form of stacks of hundreds of naipes

1100 AD, Batan Grande flooded

then burned and largely abandoned
probably relates to the same climatic event that brought down Tiwanaku

El Niños typically cause drought in the highlands and rain on the coast

probably the same event is also seen at Chotuna, Pacatnamu, and Chan Chan, but they are rebuilt, not abandoned afterwards

Late Sican 1100 - 1370

El Purgatorio, in the Leche valley, replaces Batan Grande as the large mound center
The Sican Lord disappears from the art style

rejected due to his failure to prevent the 1100 AD flooding?

Chimor origins and development

Moche valley, well south of Lambayeque
Tradition has Chimor founded by Taycanamu, who arrives from the sea to govern

his sons and descendents establish centers and conquer surrounding areas

reality appears more gradual
Chimor was the direct cultural descendent of the remains of the Moche V state, with its capital at Pampa Grande in Lambayeque

Pampa Grande was abandoned and burned around 700 AD
the Moche broke up into small, competing chiefdoms
around 850 AD, the valley is reunited and monumental construction begins at Chan Chan

Capital at Chan Chan

not to be confused with Chen Chen, in Moquegua
at one edge of the mouth of the Moche valley
area marked out by huge adobe walls is over 20 square kilometer
dense core is about 6 square kilometers
9 to 11 (depending on which you count) huge rectangular compounds ("ciudadelas") with high adobe walls
surrounded by large areas of dense, more informal, much smaller perishable cane-walled compounds of rooms around open patios "SIAR"
Ciudadelas

outer walls of cast adobe (tapia)

built in independent segments

maybe corresponding to work groups, like the columns of bricks in the Huaca del Sol
possibly for technical reasons having to do with use of tapia molds or drying or cracking issues

a single, narrow entrance in the north wall

containing courts, small amount of high-status and servants' residences, storage areas, and a royal burial mound
high walls divide the interiors into three (sometimes four) sectors

in the southern sector was only impermanent cane architecture, presumably residences of servants
in the middle and northern sectors, large courts, decorative friezes, ramps, corridors, audiencia chambers, blocks of small probable storerooms

audiencias

small U-shaped structures inside the large compounds

often on a low platform
in a small walled court
often gabled, probably roofed
often have interior niches

most compounds have many of them
thought to be "offices" or "court chambers" for rulers and upper-to-middle-level administrators
once said to have controlled access to storage areas, and each other, but recent studies show that many are not well located for that purpose

burial mound, typically in the central sector

several meters tall
numerous interior chambers
in best-preserved, late examples, the central chamber is T-shaped and larger, presumably the royal tomb
smaller mounds sometimes added on, with multiple smaller T-shaped cells

maybe non-ruling descendents, siblings, or ? of the buried king?
maybe heads of the institutions that venerated the king after his death (if that is the way it worked)?

mounds were looted severely and early, records show that they contained a lot of gold

So the function of the ciudadelas was apparently administrative, and then mortuary
ciudadelas apparently built in a sequence

apparently built and modified for a brief period -- maybe the ruler's lifetime -- then used for a long time thereafter with little modification

earlier ones seem to have been modified for several generations, later ones only maybe one

may correspond to the sequence of rulers in ethnohistorical accounts

since each seems to contain a single royal burial
but remember that at least the exploits of the listed rulers is very compressed, probably really happened over a much longer period

Moseley suggests that they may have been built and used in pairs, according to dual organization of rule, rather than in simple sequence
suggestion that expansion of Chimor was based on a pattern of "split inheritance"

in which the lands gained by the ruler went to an institution in his name, to support his ancestor cult based in his ciudadela
while the new ruler got the title, but had to build his own ciudadela and either raise taxes or conquer new lands for his own cult
this creates a constant need for expansion, even beyond what seems economically sensible
even if true, this is probably idealized

since there would have been more kings in the history of Chimor than there are ciudadelas
the early ones were used for a long time
if it does work, it is probably fully true only for the last four or so ciudadelas

Intermediate architecture

look like mini-ciudadelas
with residences, storerooms, audiencias
but no burial platforms
and no decorative friezes
taken to be homes and offices of administrators/lower nobility

SIAR (small irregular agglutinated rooms)

cramped, dense, cane-walled urban area with narrow, wandering streets
residences and workplaces of families of craft producers
especially metalworking shops

melting, casting, hammering, polishing

also woodworking shops

shaping blocks with coral "files", carving

and stone jewelry making: beads
also weaving
possibly Chimu ceramics also made in the SIAR, although the workshops have not been identified

mostly mass-produced, mold-made ceramics
often a polished blackware

at least some craftspeople wore earspools, suggesting that they were of moderately high status
no fishing or farming population

these all lived in other settlements outside the capital

population

estimated around 26,000 craft producers lived at Chan Chan
plus another 3,000 people in similar structures directly against the ciudadelas, probably working for or inside them
administrative population living in nicer adobe architecture

both ciudadelas and "intermediate" architecture
Moseley suggests a maximum of 6,000 such people
That sounds high to me
lower levels lived and apparently worked in "intermediate architecture" compounds

no burial mounds
no decorative friezes
but some audiencias

while upper levels lived in the ciudalelas

development of Chan Chan and Chimor

earliest ciudadelas built close to the shore

got water from walk-in wells
outside the ciudadelas, farming in sunken gardens that allowed plants' roots to tap the water table

canal irrigation further inland kept the water table charged and relatively high
Chimor focusses mostly on local agricultural exploitation of the Moche area
then the 1100 floods badly damaged the canal system

repairs were apparently unsuccessful
they undertook to build the huge Chicama-Moche intervalley canal ("Le Cumbre" canal) to bring water to the land above Chan Chan

but apparently it never worked all the way, either

possibly due to rapid land uplift

so Chan Chan had to grow back towards the coast, rather than inland

and they dig huge sunken gardens close to the shore, where the water table is high enough even without much artificial irrigation

Moseley suggests that these problems with getting water to farmland near Chan Chan led to military conquests of productive land for tribute

Kolata suggests that changes in ciudadela details suggests this
large increase in small storerooms, possibly to hold valuables looted from or extracted as tribute from conquered valleys
also what he considers to be jump in administrative architecture, reflecting more bureaucrats needed to manage the tribute and control of the conquered valleys

by 1200 AD, centers built in Jequetepeque and Viru valleys

both have burial platforms, suggesting that they were seats of subordinate kings

Kolata argues for a second wave of military expansion from 1300-1370 AD

conquering Lambayeque
now the new centers did not have burial platforms, suggesting a shift to more centralized rule, operating indirectly through local leaders (Moseley)

Lambayeque metalworkers were apparently brought to Chan Chan
lots of SIAR constructed at this time
yet storage rooms in ciudadelas decline in size and number

Kolata argues that earlier storage was of many different kinds of goods, including bulky food locally produced
while after the conquest of Lambayeque, storage would have concentrated on metals, which are compact for their value and need less storage space

in part because local food production was reduced by irrigation problems

also notes that there is more "intermediate" architecture outside the ciudadelas, with some storage to compensate for the decline in the ciudadelas

Kolata's scheme

1. economy based on local production
2. after canal destruction, economy based on mixed local production and extraction from first round of conquered valleys
3. after conquest of Lambayeque, economy based mostly on extraction of wealth goods from conquered valleys

Kolata also claims to see an increasing isolation of the ruler and status marking of the nobility over time

culminating in the divine kingship known from ethnohistorical sources just before the Inka conquest
presumably related to the growing emphasis on conquest and tribute extraction, both as cause and effect