Sican Culture - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Sican (also Sicán) culture is the name that archaeologist Izumi Shimada

Izumi Shimada

Izumi Shimada is a Distinguished Professor of Anthropology at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale and 2007 Outstanding Scholar with research interests in the archaeology of complex pre-Hispanic cultures in the Andes, the technology and organization of craft production, mortuary analysis,...

gave to the culture that inhabited what is now the north coast of Peru

Peru

Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....

between about AD 750 and 1375. According to Shimada, Sican means "temple of the moon". The Sican culture is also referred to as Lambayeque culture, after the name of the region in Peru. It succeeded the Moche

Moche

'The Moche civilization flourished in northern Peru from about 100 AD to 800 AD, during the Regional Development Epoch. While this issue is the subject of some debate, many scholars contend that the Moche were not politically organized as a monolithic empire or state...

culture. There is still controversy among archeologists and anthropologists over whether the two are separate cultures. The Sican culture is divided into three major periods based on cultural changes as evidenced in archeological artifacts.

Geography and location

Archaeologist Izumi Shimada

Izumi Shimada

, founder of the Sican Archaeological Project, named the prehistoric culture which he discovered in northwestern Peru. They succeeded the Moche

Moche

and preceded the Inca, the historical civilization that encountered the Spanish

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

explorers and conquistadors.

The Sican inhabited a coastal territory near the La Leche and Lambayeque Rivers. The archaeological sites span the Lambayeque region, including the Motupe, La Leche, Lambayeque, and Zaña valleys, near modern day Chiclayo

Chiclayo

Chiclayo is the capital city of the Lambayeque region in northern Peru. It is located 13 kilometers inland from the Pacific coast and 770 kilometers from the nation's capital, Lima...

. Numerous sites have been identified in the Batan Grande area of the La Leche Valley.

The climate of the area during Sican occupation was similar to the current climate, despite changes in landscape accumulated in the last 600 years. The drought-and-flood cycles seen in the region for the past 1500 years did not spare the Sican culture. (Goldstein and Shimada 2007, p. 49)

Early Sican

The Early Sican period began around AD 750 and lasted until 900. The lack of artifacts has limited the development of knowledge about this early period. The Sican were probably descendants of the Moche culture, which fell around AD 800. Their works shows shared motifs in the artifacts recovered. Similar groups include Cajamarca

Cajamarca

Cajamarca may refer to:Colombia*Cajamarca, Tolima a town and municipality in Tolima DepartmentPeru* Cajamarca, city in Peru.* Cajamarca District, district in the Cajamarca province.* Cajamarca Province, province in the Cajamarca region....

, Wari and Pachacamac

Pachacamac

The temple of Pachacamac is an archaeological site 40 km southeast of Lima, Peru in the Valley of the Lurín River. Most of the common buildings and temples were built c...

. From remains found in the archaeological locations, researchers have determined that this culture maintained commercial exchange with people from present-day Ecuador

Ecuador

Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...

(shells and snails), Colombia

Colombia

Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...

to the north (emeralds and amber

Amber

Amber is fossilized tree resin , which has been appreciated for its color and natural beauty since Neolithic times. Amber is used as an ingredient in perfumes, as a healing agent in folk medicine, and as jewelry. There are five classes of amber, defined on the basis of their chemical constituents...

), Chile

Chile

Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...

to the south (blue stone), and the eastern basin of the Marañón River (seeds of gold

Gold

Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...

). The Lambayeque culture may have been a separate trading people as well. Around AD 800 the Sican created the city of Poma, located at Batan Grande, in the La Leche Valley. Few other Early Sican sites have been discovered.

The Early Sican culture is known for the highly polished, black-finish ceramics found in the La Leche Valley. This black-finish ceramic style began in the Moche

Moche

culture prior to the Early Sican, and shows the sharing of cultures in the region. Much of the ceramics were examples of a single spout, loop-handle bottle, featuring an anthropomorphic-avian (bird) face at the spout base. The face consisted of bulging eyes, a hooked beak or triangular projection instead of a nose, stylized ears, and no mouth. It appeared to be a predecessor to the related faces of the Sican Deity and the Sican Lord of the Middle Sican culture. (Shimada 2000, p. 51)

Aside from the shared ceramic styles, much of the Early Sican defines a distinguishable culture. While the ceramic styles and iconography show some continuity with previous cultures, the combination of all the influences is Sican. The changing ceramic styles, iconography

Iconography

Iconography is the branch of art history which studies the identification, description, and the interpretation of the content of images. The word iconography literally means "image writing", and comes from the Greek "image" and "to write". A secondary meaning is the painting of icons in the...

, and funerary practices reflect a change in religious ideology and cosmology

Cosmology

Cosmology is the discipline that deals with the nature of the Universe as a whole. Cosmologists seek to understand the origin, evolution, structure, and ultimate fate of the Universe at large, as well as the natural laws that keep it in order...

that expressed the Sican culture. Most importantly, the late Early Sican period saw the accumulation of these changes in art style and iconography, coupled with other changes in organization, by which the Sican constructed monumental adobe

Adobe

Adobe is a natural building material made from sand, clay, water, and some kind of fibrous or organic material , which the builders shape into bricks using frames and dry in the sun. Adobe buildings are similar to cob and mudbrick buildings. Adobe structures are extremely durable, and account for...

structures, developed large-scale copper alloy smelting

Smelting

Smelting is a form of extractive metallurgy; its main use is to produce a metal from its ore. This includes iron extraction from iron ore, and copper extraction and other base metals from their ores...

and metalworking

Metalworking

Metalworking is the process of working with metals to create individual parts, assemblies, or large scale structures. The term covers a wide range of work from large ships and bridges to precise engine parts and delicate jewelry. It therefore includes a correspondingly wide range of skills,...

, and developed the elaborate funerary tradition that would come to characterize the Middle Sican (Shimada 1985, p. 361). Such changes have been seen by researchers at sites in Batan Grande, including the Huaca del Pueblo site, dated to around 850-900.

Middle Sican

The Middle Sican period lasted from 900 to 1100 AD. This is the period of the Sican’s “cultural florescence,” and is marked by the emergence of various cultural innovations, some of which were unprecedented in the local area. The decline of the Wari Empire

Wari Empire

The Wari Empire was a political formation that emerged around AD 600 in the central highlands of Peru and lasted for about 500 years, to 1100 AD. It operated about the same time as the Tiwanaku culture and at one time was thought to have been derived from it. In 2008 archeologists found a...

and the Middle Cajamarca polity enabled the resurgence in local political and religious identity and autonomy. The Middle Sican culture is marked by distinctive characteristics in six areas: art and ideology, crafts and technology, funerary customs, long-distance trade, religious cities and monumental temples, and the structure and authority of the state (Shimada 2000, p. 52-61; Shimada 1985, p. 365-369). Together, these characteristics provide evidence that the Sicán culture had a highly productive economy, clear social differentiation, and an influential religious ideology. The religious ideology was the underpinning of the structure of their theocratic state.

Art and ideology

Sicán art is representational in style and religious in nature. Features such as sculptural representation and the minimization of number of colors (one to three), were common among the art of many earlier cultures that flourished on the north coast of Peru. Sicán art reconfigured the motifs, conventions, and concepts of these antecedent cultures (mainly the Wari and Mochica) into an overall new and unique style. The references to the old ideas, images and ways of antecedent cultures in Sicán art would have been useful in providing prestige and legitimacy to the new Sicán religion which was emerging.

Sicán iconography is dominated by the Sican Deity It decorates all artistic media of the Sicán, including ceramics, metal works, and textiles. The icon is most commonly represented with a mask face and upturned eyes. Sometimes it may be shown with avian features, such as beaks, wings, and talons, which are evident in Early Sicán ceramics. These avian features are related to Naylamp

Naylamp

Naylamp or Naymlap was a legendary God and the first ruler of the Lambayeque civilization who created it in the 8th century BC....

, the key figure in Sicán mythology.

Naylamp was said to be the founder of the first dynasty of prehistoric kings in La Leche and Lambayeque valleys. In The Legend of Naylamp, first recorded in the 16th century by the Spanish chronicler Miguel Cabello de Balboa

Miguel Cabello de Balboa

Miguel Cabello de Balboa was a Spanish secular priest and writer. In 1566 he emigrated to Peru in South America; from here he went to Quito, Ecuador, where he began to write the Miscelánea Antárctica, finishing it at Lima in 1586...

, Naylamp is said to have traveled on a balsa

Balsa

Ochroma pyramidale, commonly known as the balsa tree , is a species of flowering plant in the mallow family, Malvaceae. It is a large, fast-growing tree that can grow up to tall. It is the source of balsa wood, a very lightweight material with many uses...

raft by sea to the Lambayeque shores. He founded a large city, and the 12 sons of his eldest son each founded a new city in the Lambayeque region. When Naylamp died, he sprouted wings and flew off to another world (Nickle Arts Museum 2006, p. 18 and 65).

Middle Sicán art did not change the concept or representation of the icon of the Sicán Deity. Both the preceding Mochica and Wari cultures feature a single dominant male figure, and the upturned eyes characteristic of the Sicán Deity are common to the art and iconography of other Pre-Hispanic societies. The iconography accompanying the Sicán Deity was unique and significant (Nickle Arts Museum 2006, p. 66). Iconography of the moon and the ocean may symbolize the Sicán Deity’s involvement in the wellbeing of marine life and fishermen. Iconography related to water signifies the importance of irrigation and agriculture to the Sicán. Other iconography, such as of the sun and moon, symbolizes the importance of duality in both human and celestial life. Depictions of the Sicán Deity with tumi knives and trophy heads may indicate his omnipotent control in both human life and the celestial world (Nickle Arts Museum 2006, p. 66; Shimada 2000, p. 52-53). Through the iconography which the Sicán associated with the icon, anthropologists theorize that the Sicán Deity may have been attributed with power to control all of the celestial forces fundamental to life and abundance (Shimada 2000, p. 53).

the lack of representation of humans in Middle Sicán art emphasizes the omnipresence of the Sicán Deity in Sicán iconography. The only exceptions are representations of the Sicán Lord, the male elite personage, and his entourage. (Shimada 2000, p. 53) Iconography of the Sicán Lord is almost identical to the Sicán Deity, except that he is shown in natural settings and does not have avian features. The Sicán Lord was probably meant to represent an earthly alter-ego of the Deity.

Crafts and technology

The population of Batan Grande included many skilled artisans. Craft production during the Middle Sican flourished and became one of the leading characteristics of the period. The highly polished black finish ceramics from the Early Sican bloomed in this later phase, along with metallurgy

Metallurgy

Metallurgy is a domain of materials science that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their intermetallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are called alloys. It is also the technology of metals: the way in which science is applied to their practical use...

; however, the ceramic technology used in the Middle Sican developed over 2500 years from local pottery

Pottery

Pottery is the material from which the potteryware is made, of which major types include earthenware, stoneware and porcelain. The place where such wares are made is also called a pottery . Pottery also refers to the art or craft of the potter or the manufacture of pottery...

production techniques (Shimada and Wagner 2001, p. 26). Workshops, such as the one found at Huaca Sialupe to the west of Batan Grande, likely had both pottery and metalworking production sites (Goldsmith and Shimada 2007, p. 45). Ceramics allowed for a medium to convey political and religious ideology in the forms of storage vessels, architectural ornaments, cooking vessels, sculptures of the Deity or animals, and other types proliferated during this period. The potters likely worked separately from one another, rather than in assembly-line type production. Huaca Sialupe excavations produced clusters of similar kilns using local hardwood

Hardwood

Hardwood is wood from angiosperm trees . It may also be used for those trees themselves: these are usually broad-leaved; in temperate and boreal latitudes they are mostly deciduous, but in tropics and subtropics mostly evergreen.Hardwood contrasts with softwood...

for charcoal

Charcoal

Charcoal is the dark grey residue consisting of carbon, and any remaining ash, obtained by removing water and other volatile constituents from animal and vegetation substances. Charcoal is usually produced by slow pyrolysis, the heating of wood or other substances in the absence of oxygen...

. Field experiments indicated that the kilns were used either for ceramics or metallurgy (Shimada and Wagner 2001, p. 28). The Paleteada ceramics used the paddle-and-anvil technique to form and decorate pottery, primarily with geometric designs (Cleland and Shimada 1998, p. 112). The monochrome black pottery became widely popular across the region during the Middle Sican as the Sican themselves began to emphasize the black pottery, with the help of the Middle Sican religious prestige. Only the geometric designs continued on the pottery into the Late Sican.

Metallurgy is one of the Sican's greatest legacies, lasting nearly 600 years at Batan Grande (Shimada and Merkel 1991, p. 83). Some Middle Sican workshops showed multicraft production and it is likely the crafts competed for resources, such as fuel for kilns. Middle- and high-status burials both contained the black ceramics, while only the social elite had access to the precious metal object; therefore, metalworking probably was given production preference by the elites (Goldsmith and Shimada 2007, p. 47). The greatness of Middle Sican metallurgy was the large scale smelting and diverse use of arsenic

Arsenic

Arsenic is a chemical element with the symbol As, atomic number 33 and relative atomic mass 74.92. Arsenic occurs in many minerals, usually in conjunction with sulfur and metals, and also as a pure elemental crystal. It was first documented by Albertus Magnus in 1250.Arsenic is a metalloid...

al copper

Copper

Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...

, which was more ductile and corrosion-resistant than pure copper. The great amounts of smelting and/or metalworking sites found in the Lambayeque region point to the convergence of major factors to allow such an occurrence: accessible ore deposits, extensive forests for hardwood to make charcoal, pottery making tradition using efficient kilns, gold working tradition that formed the basis for later metalworking technology, and a demand for goods by the elites (Shimada, Goldstein, Wagner, Bezur 2007, p. 339). The large number of smelting sites also point to the amount of labor required by using their method. In modern standards, their copper-alloy smelting was inefficient, which could have led to the high number of workshops with multiple furnaces (Shimada and Merkel 1991, p. 85).

Society

The precious metal objects found in Middle Sican sites reveal the unprecedented scale of their production and use. Metal objects permeated all levels of society. Tumbaga

Tumbaga

Tumbaga was the name given by Spaniards to a non-specific alloy of gold and copper which they found in widespread use in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica and South America.-Composition and properties:...

, a thin sheet of low karat gold

Gold

alloy

Alloy

An alloy is a mixture or metallic solid solution composed of two or more elements. Complete solid solution alloys give single solid phase microstructure, while partial solutions give two or more phases that may or may not be homogeneous in distribution, depending on thermal history...

, was used to wrap ceramic vessels for the lower elites, while the upper elites had high karat gold alloys. Common laborers only had arsenical copper objects. The precious metal objects then clearly demonstrate a hierarchy within the society (Shimada 2000, p. 56). No evidence of metalworking at the large sites has been uncovered, such as the Middle Sican capital Sican or elsewhere in the Batan Grande area, but the precious metal objects were clearly for the elites. From their high status sites, the elites supervised the manufacturing of their precious metal objects for ritual or funerary purposes (Shimada and Merkel 1991, p. 86).

Funerary practices

Excavations of religious sites have revealed much about the funerary practices of the Sicán people. These funerary practices have helped anthropologists understand the broader organization and structure of Sicán society and religion. Most of the evidence for these funerary practices has been based on excavations carried out at the Huaca Loro site in Poma by Izumi Shimada and the SAP.

First of all, the funerary practices at Huaca Loro reflect the social differentiation and hierarchy present Sicán society. This social stratification is revealed in varying burial types and practices, along with accompanying grave goods.

The most obvious difference in burial type based on social hierarchy was that commoners were buried in simple, shallow graves on the peripheries of the monumental mounds while the elite of Sicán society were buried in deep shaft tombs beneath monumental mounds, as shown in the East and West tombs at Huaca Loro. Secondly, it was found that one’s social status was also a determinant of the burial position of the body; seated, extended, or flexed. For example, bodies of the High Elite were always buried in the seated position, while commoners could be buried in a seated, extended, or flexed position (Nickle Arts Museum 2006, p. 87; Shimada et al. 2004).

Furthermore, social differentiation is manifested even within the elite tombs at Huaca Loro, through the grouping and placement of bodies. The complex internal organization of both East and West Tombs was designed according to specific social and kinship relationships (Shimada et al. 2004). Recent studies that included the use of MtDNA (systematic mitochondrial DNA) analysis and inherited dental traits analysis revealed that women in the West Tomb were grouped according to their kinship ties to the principal personage and each other (Shimada et al. 2005; Shimada et al. 2004). The grouping of women in the south part of the West Tomb were found to be maternally related to one another, as well as the principal personage; the grouping of women in the north part of the West Tomb were found to not only be unrelated to one another, but also unrelated to the principal personage. Further, ceramics in the south part were found to be of typical Middle Sicán style, while the ceramics in the North part were of a Mochica style (Shimada et al. 2005; Shimada et al. 2004). This evidence suggests that while the women of the South part of the West tomb were grouped and placed according to their kinship ties with the principal personage, the women of the North part of the West tomb had no kinship ties with the principal personage or each other therefore were placed and grouped according to some other distinct relationship to the principal personage. This genetic evidence and along with the differing styles of ceramics suggests that the North-niche women of the West Tomb were perhaps descendents of a different ethnic group (the Mochicha) who had been integrated into Sicán society under political domination (Shimada et al. 2004). While these relationships have not been proved definitively, it shows the great complexity itself of elite burial practices based on social differentiation.

Social stratification and hierarchy is also evidenced through the variation in quantity and quality of grave goods associated with those of different social status. The elite East Tomb at Huaca Loro, contained over a ton of diverse grave goods, over two-thirds of which were objects of arsenical bronze, tumbaga

Tumbaga

Tumbaga was the name given by Spaniards to a non-specific alloy of gold and copper which they found in widespread use in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica and South America.-Composition and properties:...

(low-karat gold), silver and copper alloys, and high-karat gold alloys. Other grave goods of the elite included semi-precious stone objects, amber, feathers, textiles, imported shells (such as conus and spondylus

Spondylus

Spondylus is a genus of bivalve molluscs, the only genus in the family Spondylidae. As well as being the systematic or scientific name, Spondylus is also the most often used common name for these animals, though they are also known as thorny oysters or spiny oysters.There are many species of...

), shell beads, and double spout bottles. (Nickle Arts Museum 2006, p. 87; Shimada 2000, p. 56; Bruhns 1994, p. 290) On the other hand, commoner burials had a significantly less amount of grave goods of different types, made of less valuable materials. For example, commoner grave goods at Huaca Loro were usually restricted to single-spout bottles, utilitarian plain and/or paddle decorated pottery, and copper-arsenic objects, instead of the precious metal objects of the elite tombs. (Nickle Arts Museum 2006, p. 87, Shimada et al. 2004) The power of the elite of Sicán society is demonstrated not only by the amount, quality, and diversity of exotic and status goods accumulated in the tombs, but also by the amount of time and labor that would have gone into making and acquiring them. (Shimada 2000, p. 56)

All together, the construction of the monumental mound at Huaca Loro, the preparation of the East and West Tombs and performance of the associated rituals required careful and complex planning, and considerable material, labor resources and time, and suggests the elite’s control and monopoly of power in society.

Secondly, the funerary practices of the Sicán suggest the existence of an elite lineage that used the new Sicán religion to demonstrate and maintain their power (Shimada et al. 2004). The Sicán elite used funerary practices as a way to symbolize their relationship to the divine. The sheer size and grandeur of the monumental mounds built above the elite tombs would have been awe-inspiring to Sicán citizens and a symbol the divine nature of the figures buried below. (Shimada et al. 2004) Colorful murals with religious iconography decorated ceremonial precincts in the temples of the mounds, establishing the sanctity of the ritual space, and reaffirming this connection of the buried elite below to the divine. (Nickle Arts Museum 2006, Shimada et al. 2004) Also, the principal personage of the East Tomb at Huaca Loro wears a mask identical to the Sicán Deity, which is another reference to his relationship to the Deity and the divine. (Shimada et al. 2004, p. 389) The construction itself of these monumental mounds served as a reminder of the elite’s power and endurance, and combined with the symbolic use of Sicán religious iconography to justify the divine merits of the elite lineage, was an attempt by the Sicán elite to “preserve the status quo of inherited rights.” (Shimada et al. 2004, p. 370) The funerary rites and rituals performed by the living lineage members served to further reinforce their lineage identity and the three-way relationship between the divine, the dead, and the living elite. (Shimada et al. 2004, p. 389)

Foreign trade

The variety of grave goods suggests the wide range of power of the Middle Sican elite. They not only received the most grave offerings, but also the best quality and exotic offerings. None of the metalworking sites showed evidence of on-site mining of any of the materials. In addition, the spondylus

Spondylus

shell, emeralds, feathers, and other minerals were imported to the area. Their materials came from mainly the Northern Andes, such as Ecuador

Ecuador

(from the Manteno and Milagro cultures), Peru, Colombia, but could have also reached as far south as the Tiwanaku

Tiwanaku

Tiwanaku, is an important Pre-Columbian archaeological site in western Bolivia, South America. Tiwanaku is recognized by Andean scholars as one of the most important precursors to the Inca Empire, flourishing as the ritual and administrative capital of a major state power for approximately five...

lands in the South Central Andes and east to the Maranon River, a major Amazon River

Amazon River

The Amazon of South America is the second longest river in the world and by far the largest by waterflow with an average discharge greater than the next seven largest rivers combined...

tributary. The Middle Sican trade networks appear to be unprecedented in range and goods involved, which helped to insure the spread of Sican religion and polity outside of the Lambayeque and La Leche valleys (Shimada 2000, p. 58). They also could have controlled the transport methods in addition to the goods being traded. The breeding and herding of llamas on the North Coast since the time of the Moche

Moche

could have been utilized by the Sican to provide the goods as well as a caravan of llamas to transport the goods considerable distances (Shimada 1985, p. 391).

Religious cities and mounds

The Sicán culture is characterized by the establishment of religious cities with monumental temples. The religious capital city and cultural center of the Middle Sicán is referenced as the Sicán Precinct. (Bruhns 1994, p. 293). This T-shaped area is defined by monumental mounds of Huaca Loro, El Moscón, Las Ventanas, La Merced, and Abejas built between around AD 900 and 1050. The pyramidal monumental mounds were used as both burials sites for the elite and places of worship and ritual. The construction of the monumental mounds required considerable material, labor resources and time, indicating the Sicán elite’s control and monopoly over the society’s resources and manpower. They are a dramatic symbol of the power, wealth and permanence of the Middle Sicán elite and their theocratic state that dominated much of the north coast.

Two types of mounds are found in the Lambayeque Valley dating to the Sicán. The first type is the T-shaped mound, which is a relatively low mound with a short, central ramp providing direct access to the top of the mound. The second type is a relatively tall mound with steep sides and a zig-zagging ramp to provide circuitous access to the mound top. This second type also featured an enclosed structure at the top of the mound, likely for private rituals, whereas the first type of mound was likely for public rituals (Shimada 2000, p. 60; Shimada, Shinoda, Farnum, Corruccini, Watanabe 2004, p. 388). The mounds also covered and protected the shafts of tombs of elites underneath.

The Sicán used a walled-chamber-and-fill technique (which first appeared on the North Coast during Moche

Moche

V) for constructing the monumental mound where the walls were created by adobe

Adobe

bricks and mortar in conjunction with chambers of superimposed lattices filled with refuse and other readily available materials. Marks on the adobe

Adobe

bricks used to make the mounds are indications of the patrons donating materials and/or labor for the construction of the temples (Shimada 2000, p. 60). This construction technique required “large-scale, unified construction with centrally pooled materials and labor force” (Shimada 2000 p. 60). It allowed for rapid erection of monumental buildings while minimizing labor and material investment and promoted the centralization of political and religious power in order to plan and complete these monumental mounds.

Agriculture and canals

While the Sican ceramics and metallurgy

Metallurgy

are vastly studied, agriculture during the Middle to Late Sican may have been linked to their increasing craft production. Shimada suggests that the canals at Pampa de Chaparri were developed by the Sican as part of an agro-industrial complex marked by an increase in mining and smelting operations, settlement growth, and the expansion of agriculture. Along the canals, 39 Middle Sican sites and 76 Late Sican sites were identified; however, few sites were located in the irrigation fields. This Sican occupation at the irrigation

Irrigation

Irrigation may be defined as the science of artificial application of water to the land or soil. It is used to assist in the growing of agricultural crops, maintenance of landscapes, and revegetation of disturbed soils in dry areas and during periods of inadequate rainfall...

system points to its construction during the Middle Sican. The construction of this irrigation system, as well as the association of hierarchical social units and canal branches, coincides with the rapid and dramatic growth of the Middle Sican. Irrigation for agriculture was a necessity for the Sican elite to produce a surplus of food to feed artisans and laborers, who in turn support the elites.

Late Sican

The Late Sican period began around AD 1100 and ended with the Chimu conquest of the Lambayeque region circa 1375.

Abandonment of Sican and Batan Grande

Around AD 1020, a major drought lasting 30 years occurred at Sican. At the time of the drought, the Sican Deity, so closely tied to the ocean and water in general, was at the center of Sican religion. The catastrophic changes in weather were thus linked to the Sican Deity, mainly to the failure of the Sican Deity to mediate nature for the Sican people. The Sican ceremonies (and temples/mounds on which they were performed) were supposed to ensure that there was an abundance of nature for the people. The elites were the mediators between the common people and the Sican Deity, as the Sican Deity was the mediator between nature and the Sican people (Jennings 2008). After 30 years of uncertainty in respect to nature, the temples that were the center of Middle Sican religion and elite power were burned and abandoned between 1050 and 1100. Perhaps the ancestor cult and aggrandizing of the elites caused too much resentment. Coupled with the drought that surely weakened agriculture in the area, the tolerance of the common population plummeted, forcing the removal of the political and religious leadership at Sican to save the people. There was little or no repair of the destruction of Sican, and further damage was inflicted by El Nino floods around 1100.

New Sican

The burning and abandonment of the previous capital meant that a new capital needed to be built. Tucume

Túcume

Purgatorio is the name by which local people refer to the dozens of pre-Hispanic pyramids, enclosures and mounds found on the plain around La Raya Mountain, south of the La Leche River...

or El Purgatorio was constructed as the new Late Sican capital at the juncture of the La Leche and Lambayeque Valleys. Tucume became the new religious and ceremonial center of the Sican. The religious and iconographic legacies of the Middle Sican abruptly disappeared. It is at this juncture, when the Sican Deity and Sican Lord disappear from art, is when the Late Sican begins. Other mythical depictions from the Middle Sican continued in the Late Sican and reflect the revitalization of the religion going back to tradition relationships with nature. Icons include felines, fish, and birds that were secondary to the Sican Deity during the previous era, but were also linked to previous cultures in the area. Sican material culture, such as ceramics and metallurgy, unrelated to religion or politics did not change during the Middle Sican to Late Sican transition. Agriculture and irrigation were also not affected by the transition of political and religious power, as evidenced by the lack of effects on Pampa de Chaparri and numerous large urban hill-side settlements.

Tucume

Túcume

Purgatorio is the name by which local people refer to the dozens of pre-Hispanic pyramids, enclosures and mounds found on the plain around La Raya Mountain, south of the La Leche River...

took on the religious and ceremonial prestige as the site of Sican claimed during the Middle Sican. The mounds and temples from the Middle Sican were continued into the Late Sican since the idea of mounds were not associated with the fall of the Middle Sican, only those mounds in Batan Grande. The same types of ceremonial and religious artifacts made from the same materials were found at Tucume. The site grew enormously during its 250 year Late Sican occupation. By the time of the Chimu conquest of the Lambayeque region in 1375, there were 26 major mounds and enclosures. The site is built on 220 hectares around the La Raya Mountain. Tucume is seen as the reorganization and reunification of the Sican elite and Sican population as a whole until the fall of the Sican to the Chimu.

External links

Sican Archaeological Project

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Geography and location

Early Sican

Middle Sican

Art and ideology

Crafts and technology

Society

Funerary practices

Foreign trade

Religious cities and mounds

Agriculture and canals

Late Sican

Abandonment of Sican and Batan Grande

New Sican

Tucume

See also

Further reading

External links