Sican Culture

:"This article concerns the Sican Culture of what is now Peru. For the people of ancient Sicily, see the article Sicani."The Sican Culture is the name archaeologist Izumi Shimada, founder of the [http://www.sican.org Sican Archaeological Project] , gave to a culture that predated the Inca in what is now the north coast of Peru between about 750-1375 AD. The Sican culture is also referred to as the Lambayeque culture, after the name of the region in Peru (there is controversy over whether the two are separate cultures). The culture is divided into three periods based on cultural changes (Sican 2007).

Geography and Location

The Sican were a coastal state, inhabiting the northern north coast of Peru near the tip of Ecuador. The archaeological sites span the Lambayeque region, including the Motupe, La Leche, Lambayeque, and Zana valleys, near modern day Chiclayo (Sican 2007).

Early Sican

The Early Sican period began around 750 AD and lasting until 900 AD. The Sican were probably descendants of the Moche (which fell around 800 AD) based on shared motifs in their artifacts. Other similar groups include Cajamarca, Wari and Pachacamac. Remains found in the archaeological locations have determined that this culture maintained commercial exchange with populations from Ecuador (shells and snails), Colombia to the north (emeralds and amber), Chile to the south (blue stone), and seeds of gold extracted in the basin from the Marañón River to the east. The Lambayeque culture was one of those peoples. Around A.D. 800 they created the city of Poma, located at Batan Grande, in the La Leche Valley.

Middle Sican

The Middle Sican period lasted from 900- 1100 AD. Batan Grande grew to become the region's political and religious center between 900 and 1100 AD. The population of Batan Grande included many skilled metal workers. The tombs of Batan Grande lords have held gold and silver keros (beakers), emeralds, pearls and mummy bundles with gold funerary masks along with semi-precious stones, shell and feathers. Other works in clay, wood inlaid with shell, and textiles depict sea birds, fish and scenes of Spondylus shell diving. These shells were collected further north in Ecuador. When the Spanish arrived in the area, they documented that a top-level official was responsible for laying a red carpet of ground Spondylus shell powder before the ruler as he walked. Textiles from the Lambayeque valley show a combination of Moche, Wari and local elements such as characteristic eyes and crescent headdresses, sea motifs and slit tapestry.

Late Sican

The Late Sican period began around 1100 AD and ended with the Chimu conquest of the Lambayeque region circa 1375 AD. Around A.D. 1100, the site of Batan Grande was abandoned and burned, and a new centre was established at Túcume (which was eventually conquered by the Chimú in A.D. 1350) and is associated with a great drought that lasted more than 30 years.

The peoples of the Sican culture used tumis, and it was at a site of their culture that the first tumis discovered "in situ" by archaeologists were found (BBC 2006).

References

* BBC. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6172530.stm "Tomb find reveals pre-Inca city."] BBC, 2006-11-22. Retrieved 2006-11-27.
* Sican Archaeological Project. [http://www.sican.org/settings.html "Research Settings: The Sican Culture."] 2007. Retrieved 2008-9-5.

Further reading

Sharpe, Colleen. "Ancient Peru Unearthed: Golden Treasures of a Lost Civilization". Calgary: Nickle Arts Museum, 2006. ISBN 0889533067.

External links

* [http://www.sican.org Official Website of Sicán Archaeological Project]