South American Civilization

The Moche The Sican

“The Early Chimú” lived in what is modern-
day Peru, near Moche and Trujillo. Their
civilization lasted from approximately 100 to
800 CE. The Moche shared cultural values
and social structures within a distinct
geographical region. However, this
civilization functioned as individual city-
states, sharing similar cultural elite classes,
rather than as an empire or a single political
system.
The Sicán culture inhabited what is now
the north coast of Peru between about 750
CE and 1375 CE. In the Early Sicán period,
the Sicán began to establish trade and
commerce. In the Middle Sicán period, it
showed an explosion of culture and art,
along with the development of extensive
trading routes.

The Nazca The Chimu

They lived near the arid southern coast of
Peru from 100 BCE to 800 CE. Early Nazca
society was made up of local chiefdoms and
regional centers of power centered around
Cahuachi. These pyramid-like structures and
plazas served as important spaces for fertility
and agricultural rituals. The Nazca developed
underground aqueducts to sustain cities and
agriculture in this arid climate. Many of them
still function today.
The Chimú were a culture that lasted from
approximately 900 CE until 1470 CE along
the northern coast of modern-day Peru,
centered in the city of Chan Chan. Chimú
artisans made notable multi-colored
textiles and monochromatic pottery and
metalwork. The Chimú worshipped the
Moon as the essential deity of fertility,
good weather, and bountiful crops.

Religion Medical Procedures

Funerarial practices Trephination and Cranial

- Social stratification and hierarchy is Manipulation
evidenced through the variation in
quantity and quality of grave goods - Trephination was a primitive skull
for different social classes. surgery used by the Nazca that
relieved pressure on the brain from
Sicán Precinct battle wounds or for ritual purposes.
- The religious capital city and Some of the skulls show signs of
cultural center of the Middle Sicán healing, evidence that some
which is defined by a number of
monumental rounds. The pyramidal
Agriculture individuals who
procedure survived.
underwent the

monumental mounds were used as

both burials sites for the elite and - Elongated skulls, as a result of skull
The Nazcas have a varied diet: Maize,
places of worship and ritual. manipulation, were also seen in the
Squash, Sweet potatoes, etc. They grew
excavations from Cahuachi. Several
several non-food crops, such as cotton for
Deities theories suggest skull manipulation
textiles, coca, San Pedro cactus, and
- The Chimú worshipped the Moon created an ethnic identity, formed
gourds.
(Si) and considered it the greatest the individual into a social being, or
and most powerful of the deities may have illustrated social status.
In terms of animal resources, the Nazca
made sacrifices of llamas and guinea pigs
at Cahuachi. Llamas were also commonly
exploited as pack animals, for their wool,
and as a source of meat.

Huachaques
- These sunken farms included the removal
of the top layer of earth and allowed farmers
to work the moist, sandy soil underneath.

Walk-in wells
- were developed to draw water.

Large reservoirs
- were developed to retain water from river
systems in this arid climate where water was
an essential resource.
 Architecture

Huaca del Sol

– is a pyramidal adobe structure on
the Rio Moche, was the largest pre-
Columbian structure in Peru. Huacas
Art were the centerpieces for ritual sites
and used as administrative centers
and palaces for Moche culture.

Ceramics
– incorporated representations of people, Huaca de la Luna
animals, and ritual scenes. These recurring - is better preserved. Its interior
narrative themes help illuminate and define walls contain many colorful murals
their ideologies in the present day.
with complex iconography. The site
has been under professional
Gold beaker
archaeological excavation since the
- A 9th—11th century gold beaker exemplary
of Middle Sicán art and craftsmanship. early 1990s.

Chimú mantle
- The Chimú are known for their artisanal
works, such as this mantle spun of multiple-
colored fibers sometime from 1000 to 1476 CE.

Pottery and Textiles

– They created complex multicolored textiles
and ceramics reflecting their agricultural and
sacrificial traditions. Their pottery and
metalwork are known for being
monochromatic.

Moche Decapitator Chimú pottery Chimú mantle

A Moche icon, usually depicted as a spider, and is distinctly monochromatic and bears a The Chimú are known for their artisanal works, such as
associated with ritual sacrifices and the elements of land, striking resemblance to Moche pottery. this mantle spun of multiple colored fibers sometime from
air, and water. 1000 to 1476 CE.

Huaca del Sol Killer whale (Orca) Gold beaker

Originally the largest pre-Columbian adobe structure in Powerful nature gods were an essential A 9th—11th century gold beaker exemplary of Middle Sicán
the Americas, this pyramid was constructed using around element of the Nazca religious culture, which art and craftsmanship.
130 million bricks. centered around agriculture.