…en Perú - Travel Culture History News

Thousand year old discovery reveals new information about social organization and ideology of the Sicán.

Site of discovery

The Bosque de Pomac historical sanctuary is still turning up surprises and astonishing archaeologists. This incredible place, a vast forest of of algarrobo trees on the old grounds of the Batán Grande suger-cane hacienda, is dotted with dozens of ancient pyramids belonging to the Sicán culture, descendants of the Moche.

35km north of Chiclayo, the site was first excavated in 1978 by Japanese archaeologist and anthropologist Izumi Shimada, but it wasn’t until 1992 that his team discovered a tomb of an elite member of Sicán society. From this grave, 1.2 tonnes of precious metals in the form of jewellery and religious artefacts were removed, now stored in the National Sicán Museum. It made international news.

Since that discovery, many dozens more have been made, but the most recent has occurred in the past months.

New excavations have uncovered two burials of Sicán elite. The co-director of the archaeological project, Carlos Elera Arévalo, explains that the remains of both bodies were found with gold, silver and copper ornaments that demonstrate their position in their society, and the period during which they lived - around 900-1100 BC.

Tomb

Work is still under way on the eastern side of the Huaca Loro pyramid, but hopefully within the coming weeks we will find out more about the two elite Sicán.

Carlos Elera Arévalo says however that their work goes beyond discovering fabulous ancient tombs with precious jewellery - the aim of their research is to find out more about the social organisation and religious ideology of the Sicán, also known as the Lambayeque, who developed in this area.

He added that between 1990 and 1996 alone, they have excavated and analysed some 50 burials of individuals of both sexes, various ages and social positions, including, among these, the Lord of Sicán (Not to be confused with the Lord of Sipán).

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A team from Peru’s National Institute of Culture (INC) working on the ruins of Torontoy in the Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu, have discovered the tomb of an Inca with full funerary regalia. The gender and age of the tomb’s owner has not yet been determined, but found with the body were a number of decorated ceramics and two pins.

Burial site in Torontoy

The dig was taking place as part of the budgeted work for 2008 and was led by archaeologist Homar Gallegos Guitierrez. It is thought that the burial dates from the time of the founding of Torontoy, when the Incas first built the citadel in the kancha design of enclosed rectangular walls.

The remains and the objects discovered will be taken to Cusco for detailed analysis.

Photos of Torontoy - Read the rest of this entry »

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Thousands of archaeological sites dating from hundreds to thousands of years old sit abandoned and forgotten across Peru. Year after year they decay further through lack of care or are intentionally destroyed. In the past century untold amounts of history has been lost.

Those that are recognised and fall under the protection of Peru’s National Institute of Culture (INC) don’t fair much better, but at least the INC must grant permission for any work to be carried out around the ruins, preventing their destruction in large and/or legal projects.

To this long list of protected national monuments, 80 ancient sites have been added yesterday from the two Peruvian departments of La Libertad in the north and Ica in the south.

INC protection isn't everything

In La Libertad, the archaeological sites now recognised include the Cerro Huarcayoc and Huarcayoc I, located between the towns of Santiago de Challas and Huancaspata, Pataz province.

In Ica, among the archaeological sites declared cultural heritage are Maijo Chico 1, 2 and 3, Maijo Grande, Caracoles 1,2 and 3, Pampa Media Luna 1 and 2, Cerro Tres Pavos 1 and 2, Pampa Media Luna 4, 5, 6 , 8, 9, 10, 11 and 13, Media Luna 1 and 2, San Marcos 2, 3 and 4.

As well as, Santa Catalina 2, Asiento, Chuichipampa 1, 2 and 3, Cucahuischu, Illatoro 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6, Marcaya 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, Media Luna 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12, Casa Blanca 1, 2 and 3, Huayurí Bajo 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6, Huayurí 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6.

Other ancient sites include Pampas de Huayurí, Pampa Las Carretas 1, 2, 3 and 4, Larán, Monte Grande, Pampa Media Luna 7, 12 and 14, San Marcos 1 and Huayurí Bajo 7.

Now falling under protection as “National Cultural Heritage”, any road, agricultural or farming project that could affect the sites in any way must first be approved by the INC.

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ANDINA/Hector Vinces

A cannon dating from Peru’s Spanish colonial period has been found by workers constructing part of Lima’s new Metropolitan transport system and underground central station. Unearthed at the intersection between Camaná and Emancipation, the cannon measures 2.79 metres long and is in good condition.

An archaeologist from the country’s National Institute of Culture (INC), Carmen Gabe Benaki, explains that the cannon was likely to have been reused in the 1800s to protect an old mansion that once occupied the site but no longer stands. During the building’s demolition it would have been left in place and become buried.

It seems this was not the first time this particular item had been rediscovered. The cannon was found just centimetres below tubes in which the cables carrying power to the street lights run. Laid 30 years ago, it is likely that the workers placing these tubes ignored the historic cannon to avoid delays by archaeologists and the responsibility for retrieving it.

ANDINA/Hector Vinces

The INC has now given permission to the company carrying out the construction, Protransporte, to move the object to the museum in the Parque de la Muralla for further study, and so that work can continue on the site.

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REUTERS/Pilar Olivares (PERU)

Air quality in Lima has never been good, mostly thanks to the high humidity and fog. But when dictator Alberto Fujimori passed laws to allow second-hand ancient, deadly and heavily polluting cars to be imported from abroad, air quality took a massive hit. Though it never rains, grey clouds took on a hint of black, and a thick soot blanketed the city.

Fujimori’s legacy meant vehicles were unregulated and heavily polluting. For more than a decade, everything you touch in the street is lined with a layer black dust - dust that also gets in your hair, clothes and in your home. Worst of all, the black smoke belched out by vehicles contains particles of a size (measured in microns) that are the most deadly and cancer-causing - particles that get retained by filters in the rest of the world by law. Fujimori and his corrupt friends made a fortune while cancer rates rocketed.

A decade later, we might finally be seeing some improvements.

REUTERS/Pilar Olivares (PERU)

Tests carried out by Peru’s INEI (a statistics institute shows a 11.77% reduction in nitrogen dioxide. Dust particles per cubic metre dropped by 29.28% and sulphur dioxide dropped by 75.06%. The tests were carried out in central Lima, in Avenida Abancay, but did not include levels of lead particles. Other metals and dusts in the air however, those smaller than 2, 5 and 10 microns were registered and fell by between 6.61% and 22.96%

The falls have been put down to the higher uptake of natural gas as a form of fuel. Many drivers, particularly taxis who were some of the worst offenders, have converted their vehicles to this cheap and domestic energy source.

Laws to force the transport criminals that run bus companies in Peru to renew their fleets, although not enforced, have seen some effect. Orion is one of the better companies.

If these decrease is indeed true, and can be repeated, the quality of life in Lima is bound to improve dramatically. However, a recent study carried out by two Peruvian universities had recently documented a rise in vehicle pollution.

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It is a mystery as yet unsolved. How were the ancient Nazca able to draw such huge and complicated designs in the barren Nazca plains, drawings so large that they are only visible from the air? Could it be that this pre-Inca civilisation mastered some form of flight allowing them to both create and appreciate their work? Some think so.

Condor I

One of the first groups to propose that the Nazcans had mastered flight was the International Explorers Society in the 1970s. It seemed technically impossible to them that the famous shapes of the monkey, hummingbird and spider, among others, could ever have been drawn accurately without leaving the ground. There is no need to go as high as a light aeroplane, as Maria Reiche showed when she built a short 13m high tower that allows you to just make out 3 shapes. The Nazcans would only need to lift themselves off the ground by only a few times that.

Based on the exceptional quality of the textiles the Nazca people created, the group proposed that it could feasibly be used as the envelope of a simple hot-air balloon. Named Condor 1, their 26m high test balloon made with similar materials managed to make it to 183m before falling back to the ground with its two pilots then being whisked up again to 366m.

At the heart of this attempt were Jim Woodman, who had long proposed Nazcan flight, and Julian Nott a design engineer and balloonist. All involved were convinced that they had proven that it was at least a possibility that the ancient line builders could have flown.

Nott later said, “Would [the lines] have been made if no one could see them?  Would da Vinci have painted the Mona Lisa if he could not step back and admire the finished canvas?”

In 2002 Nott repeated this earlier success, creating a new balloon using only materials and techniques available in ancient times. He comments that the cotton fabric used in burials and found across the area are adequate for constructing a balloon.

Nott writes;

As you can easily understand, this project was intriguing to many balloonists and I was able to get wonderful people to participate. Peter Cuneo and Barbara Fricke came to Nazca and I was lucky enough to have Peter fly with me.  Having designed the balloon, I approached Best Aviation to build it. In Peru they organized the layout of the balloon with skill: it was not easy to manage 600 pounds of cotton fabric.

A lot of care went into the choice of fabric.  It had to be something the Nazca people could have woven. This was easy since their skills far exceeded what was needed for this balloon.  But it had to have adequate tensile and tear strength while being light.

When people see photographs of the balloon the general reaction is that it was very dangerous.  But in fact
Bert and I did a long series of tests to ensure the attachments were safe. Low porosity was of particular importance and this is a fascinating subject.  When we built the first prehistoric balloon it was so porous I feared it might not fly at all.  But inflating it over a fire and exposing it to suitable smoke for a long period, soot particles filled up the fabric.

Beyond the balloon and a fire the only other component of this starkly simple craft was the gondola.  The classic reed boat, known in Peru and Bolivia as the “Balsa“, has been made since ancient times.  The gondola was made by hand on one of the “Floating Islands” in Lake Titicaca. Twelve and a half thousand feet up in the Andes, the islands are a very unlikely workshop!

The flight proved to be another success, and those who believe the Nazca civilisation had the ability to fly cite this as evidence.

Others aren’t so sure. Katherine Reece is one such person.

Quoting from Jim Woodman’s book;

I know damned well someone flew at Nazca,” I kept insisting. “You simply can’t see anything from ground level. You can’t appreciate any of it from anywhere except from above. You can’t tell me the Nazca builders would have gone to the monumental efforts they did without ever being able to see it.

Reece responds;

With this modern, and incorrect, viewpoint in mind Woodman attempted to prove that the Nasca could have flown. To do so, he gathered information and constructed a hot-air smoke balloon using material available to the ancient Nasca people. While the lift for the balloon was provided by hot air the porous material was “sealed” by the smoke and soot from the fire. In this fashion a very short manned flight of approximately two minutes was successful.

She then derides him for coming to the conclusion that the Nazcans must have flown, and that this can be proven by archaeology. She complains that “Woodman did not reference his sources, provide detailed information, or images depicting his visual evidence that could be analyzed”. Woodman, for example, declared that a piece of pottery with an image that looks remarkably like a modern day hot air balloon was all but firm evidence that balloons existed. Reece, however, shows pretty clearly that it is just a bean.

Perhaps the most damning criticism;

When Woodman flew his balloon at Nasca he inflated the envelope by digging a pit, filling it with wood, and feeding the hot air and smoke into the balloon via a tunnel. Woodman claims that such burn pits with “charred rocks” are present however no evidence of any fires large enough to inflate a balloon have been found at Nasca. Markus Reindel, of the Organisation des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, has excavated what Woodman calls “burn pits” and discovered that they are in fact small shrines where offerings were made that have helped illuminate the purpose of the lines.

It seems unlikely that the Nazcans used balloons to design and admire their huge shapes, but Woodman and Notts have proven that they could have if their imaginations had stretched that far.

As for designing such huge shapes in the desert that no Nazcan other than the Nazcan gods could appreciate, I’d have to disagree with Notts and Woodman. Stranger and more devoted things have been done in the name of religion.

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As the security fences and blockades are pulled down, and life in Lima gets back to normal, Peru can be proud that it successfully held such a large scale international event. The numbers of delegates and the numbers of heads of state all in the capital city at the same time was unprecedented for the country, but despite Peru’s reputation for inefficiency everything went surprisingly well.

Of course, keeping presidents safe and events running smoothly is not too difficult if you declare public holidays, ask a city’s population to kindly take advantage of them and leave town, then shut down completely key districts of the city.

Once busy streets

As the leaders of Pacific nations were sped around in motorcades from Miraflores to San Isidro to San Borja, various restrictions were put in place. Only local residents with pre-issued passes could enter sealed off areas at key times, while in the areas around hotels, such as the Marriott where Bush was staying, the public to pass blockades by presenting ID.

Typically for Peru, where things of an official nature rarely make sense, any terrorist with a valid ID could wander straight through the barriers. As I approached the makeshift fortress surrounding the Marriott, already having passed a vehicle blockade with armed guards a dozen blocks back, with a flash of my ID and quick check by the officer that the face on the card was indeed mine, I was through. Even if I were strapped with a bomb, I could have gladly shown my real ID before blowing myself up - no effort was made to record who I was, they wouldn’t have had a clue I was there.

APEC Security

It has to be said though, that anyone with a bomb strapped to them would almost certainly be acting suspiciously, and anyone acting suspiciously would immediately be pounced on… as 61 year old María Augusta Esilda Martínez Barco found out. As Chinese President Hu Jintao was meeting with President George Bush in the Marriott hotel she attempted to walk into the protected area. Do 61 year olds usually eat lolly pops? Over zealous security officials didn’t think so as dozens of them rushed up to wrestle the terrorist away before she could detonate her oral explosive device. Hands grabbed her face, holding her mouth closed. Attempting to protest she kicked and screamed as more officers carried her away. Searching her, they found a small nail file and pocket knife. Clear evidence of a well-planned terrorist plot to kill the Presidents. If they hadn’t have stopped her in time, who knows how many heavily armed guards she could have taken down.
The bruised and cut woman was held for a short time before being released. She wasn’t pleased.

Lighter Moments

As Alan García sat with Hu Jintao, he attempted a speech in Mandarin Chinese. As the Chinese interpreters fell about laughing, the Chinese President tried to keep the smile off his face.

Not one of the Chinese delegation could make out a single word of what he had said.

Maybe the Chinese, with a new found respect for Peruvians and their hospitality (García did try), will be willing to pay a fair price for the rights to pillage the natural resources of the country.

Pisco Peruano

Peru is proud of itself for its massive win in the propaganda war against the Chilean aggressor. Chile make a cheap mass-produced version of Peru’s national spirit that here is still carefully produced using the same methods as it was when exported from the port of Pisco 500 years ago. Pisco was served to delegates a number of times in the form of the Pisco Sour, the famous Peruvian cocktail that Chile also claims is theirs. George Bush at one point was offered a plater that had glasses of both Lima’s Pisco Sour and the northern cocktail Algarrobina. He spent a few moments asking the waiter about the difference, before shrugging and helping himself to one of each.

Pisco sours for Presidents

He seemed to enjoy them, as did other leaders.

Final Photo Op

I was a little disappointed that in the capital of an Andean nation, in an event where leaders pose for a light-hearted photo in the country’s national dress, that it was decided to ignore the Andes altogether - almost admitting to the world that APEC is indeed only for the rich, and for Peru’s wealthy coastal residents - by having leaders pose in a simple poncho that at worst was not very Peruvian and at best, something only representing the coast.

As the rural poor that make up the majority of the nation protest that they see nothing of the supposedly huge economic progress said to be occurring, it might have been a positive publicity coup to see Lima and the APEC countries to acknowledge their existence.

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China’s President Hu Jintao arrives in Lima, is greeted by Peru’s Alan Garcia and taken in style to the Plaza de Armas and the Presidential Palace.

Read more about the APEC meetings ».

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As the leaders of Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, the People’s Republic of China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan, the United States and Vietnam arrive in Lima, the city for a short time at least, is in the international spot light.

The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation brings together 21 member economies that account for 60 percent of the world’s gross domestic product and is designed to develop economic ties and to promote free trade agreements between them. As the host, Peru is expected to provide meeting places, lodging and of course security. With the total number of delegates in Lima today passing 8,000, this is no small task, but one Peru is keen to make a success of.

Five star hotels have been surrounded by armed police and barricades, traffic having been diverted.

Among other leaders, China’s President Hu Jintao arrived with 600 Chinese businessmen and 12 members of his Government. China has invested billions in Peru in the past year and is expected to sign a Free Trade Agreement with the country.

Lock down

Peru's Robocops in force

In the past days the streets of the districts in which the meetings are taking place have been flooded with police. Groups of them stand on every corner and outside every hotel. In total some 99,000 police have been deployed across the entire country, as well as a similar number of soldiers, but this has not been met with a lack of worrying incidents.

A resurgent Shining Path, Maoist drug traffickers and genocidal mass-murderers, killed 3 police officers as they travelled along a road near the town of Huanta, Ayacucho. Without warning, they fired over one-hundred bullets at their vehicle before disappearing into the forest. This comes at a time when Peru is trying to counter the disruption caused by the APEC conferences to promote internal tourism by declaring public holidays in Lima. I don’t suppose the beautiful high-Amazon area of Huanta will be overflowing with tourists in the coming weeks.

Just two days ago, in a separate incident, Peruvian police arrested a man with 36 grenades in his backpack heading for the centre of Lima. Claiming not to know what the backpack contained and to have been given it by a friend, police are interrogating him to uncover any potential terrorist plot.

A total of 39,000 police officers have been deployed in Lima with 2,000 specifically assigned to protect dignitaries. Among them, are dozens of snipers placed on key buildings. Riot police will also be in force. Communist trade unionists the Confederacion General de Trabajadores, known for their bloody running battles with police, pledged to protest outside the heavily fortified headquarters of the army, when the meetings will be taking place.

Mario Huaman, the union’s secretary general, said he called the protest “to condemn Bush’s presence as he is guilty for the financial crisis, which is having a negative impact on workers.”

Photos

Courtesy of REUTERS, AFP and GETTY.

Peru's police deployed in Lima

Early protesters practice protesting

Rehearsals for chemical and biological attacks

Practice ambush of public bus

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Laying untouched for centuries, this isolated spot in the dry Nazcan desert was used as a place to bury and preserve the mummified dead of the Nazca culture. Since then, the countless hundreds of tombs found here have been pillaged and destroyed. What remains is at first a fascinating sight for visitors - bones, ceramics and cloth scattered across the sands, pieces of ancient fabric blowing around in the wind - but that fascination soon turns to despair as you realise the amount of precious historical information lost.

Ancient textiles in the sands

It almost looks like another planet, perhaps the moon. Crater after crater as far as you can see. These aren’t meteor impacts though, these were once the tombs of important members of the ancient Nasca society. It is they who inhabited this region of Ica from roughly 200B.C. to the coming of the Wari in the 700’s A.D.

These tombs, hundreds of them, were destroyed by tomb robbers in the past century. Fuelled by demand from wealthier parts of the world, the local poor - made so by the ways of their conquerors - ransacked the resting places of their ancestors destroying untold amounts of archaeological information. Pottery, metals, fine weaving and other objects were sold for thousands of dollars, while thousands of years of history were lost.

Despite the damage, a few complete bodies were found. So too were several tomb walls, giving us clues as to how burials took place - for example, bodies always faced the rising sun. One of the best preserved is in the site museum, still with skin and hair.

A Nazcan

Some examples of beautiful tapestries have been saved from the fate of being locked up in a private collection of a North American or European millionaire, and are on display to the public. Lesser cloth is found blowing around in the wind, or poking out of the sandy top-soil.

In the surviving tombs, some of the finds - bones, skulls and even intact mummies have been placed as they would have been. Visitors can walk around each of these and get a feel of how Chauchilla may once have been.

Perhaps the most interesting fact these mummies tell us is how the Nazcan people looked physically. Far from being the impoverished short Peruvians of the past five centuries, your typical well-fed and well nourished Nascan was a tall 1.7m or or 5′6″. Few Europeans were that tall in 500A.D.

Also fascinating is the Nazcan’s long dreaded hair, so long that if it were let down, it would trail along behind them as they walked. Many of the bodies found still sport this long hair, trend-setters for Caribbean peoples 1500 years later.

Visiting the site from Nasca is easy, it’s just 30km away, reachable by taxi for S./40. Make sure you ask for a ticket when you pay the small entrance fee, so you know the money is going to fund the preservation of the site.

Photos - Read the rest of this entry »

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