Trujillo

Time for another blog about ancient people! I told you I like archaeology.

Chan Chan is a huge archaeological complex a few kilometres northwest of Trujillo in Peru. Trujillo is one of Peru's largest cities. Chan Chan is also a UNESCO World Heritage site for it's cultural value.  Chan Chan was home to the administrative headquarters of the Chimu people from 900 to 1500 AC. This was the largest pre-Colombian city in South America (that means before the Spaniards arrived). This palace is decorated with fish, birds and other geometric shapes throughout. There are also images of nets and other marine life because they were fisherman.

thousands of bricks

gigantic walls

fish swimming, birds floating underneath

strange birds

burial chamber

special ceremony area

reservoir

There is only one complex left in good condition (it's been partially restored), however there were over 10 complexes spanning 25 square kilometres in this area. From the Pacific inland. They made their buildings out of mud, guano, rock bricks and covered them in the same mixture to make the walls flat. They also carved designs and other things into the wall. This building was the place for ceremonies, food storage, government, military strategy and everything else. They also perfected irrigration systems allowing them to grow crops in the desert by diverting the flow of rivers miles and miles away! There was even a huge reservoir inside the palace.

I also went to some temples, the Huaca del Arco Iris and the Huaca Esmeralda. These were interesting because they were also political, religious and administrative sites. They have cool designs carved into the walls and could be indicative of the various tribes who lived there. The guide said that there are ceramics and gold buried in the lands all around the temples because people pay for bags of rice or corn with pre-Colombian gold. They say that their parents and grandparents found it when they were planting crops in the fields. There are carvings here of dragons and waves and fish and pelicans.

waves! use your imagination...

love this story, the translation is priceless

dragons

dragons

partial mural

full mural...with dragons

me...and dragons

ummm....dragons again...it's the dragon temple

fish swimming around a rhombus

ramps to climb the pyramid

It's an odd feeling you get standing in a place where there were humans a thousand years ago. Were they that different from us? They just wanted to be happy. Make a home for themselves. Get a little plot of land to call their own. I don't think people have changed all that much in the past millenia, and we'll probably have changed very little with the next set of gawkers come by to see our homes (which will be in ruins in 3013). Makes you realize your place on the timeline of world history.

I'm also staying on a beach in a town called Huanchaco. The people here in Peru are starting to rip me off less and less. For that, I'm appreciative. The sunset here is amazing. Enjoy the Pacific sun for a few minutes if you have the time. Hopefully you do, if not, stop working so hard! Tell your boss I said it was okay ;-P