Peru--It's More Than the Incas!

We made 2 stops in Peru: Trujillo in the north and Lima. Interestingly, at both stops we focused on the pre-Inca civilization and were amazed at how interesting it was—equally as interesting as the Incas (other than Machu Picchu.).

Along the coast, Peru gets little rain—although it is generally cloudy with relatively high humidity 5 months of the year. Weather comes from east to west and all the water gets dumped in the Amazon and on the slopes of the Andes. The first picture shows the view from the Salaverry port near Trujillo—brown and dry, other than small patches where it is irrigated.    

The second picture shows one of the palaces in the Chan Chan complex, near the ocean in Trujillo. This is the capital of the ancient Chimu Empire and is 1000 years old. Chan Chan had a population of 50,000-60,000 people and covered approximately 8 square miles. Within Chan Chan, 9 palaces have been discovered that were built for each ruler once the previous ruler died. Close friends, military leaders and family were sacrificed and buried with the leader in his palace and that palace was abandoned. Approximately 1200 people lived in each palace, so each was a small city in itself.  The palaces were built of adobe. This was a very sophisticated society that built wells and canals from natural springs.

We then traveled to the beach to see boats built in the ancient style (picture 3). These were built of reeds, floated on top of the water and were capable of traveling long distances, carrying goods to markets.

We were in Lima for 2 days and had 2 great experiences. We visited a typical upper-class home in downtown Lima—Casa Aliaga. The house was originally given to the Aliaga family in 1535 by Pizarro, the conquistador who became the president of Peru in the 16^th century. It has been in that family for 16 generations. Unfortunately, lighting and size of rooms did not allow for good pictures. It had a very plain façade on the street, but once inside, had lovely courtyards and rooms with beautiful furnishings that had been imported from Europe.

We also visited the Larco Herrera Museum, which houses the world’s largest collection of pre-Columbian art. Pictures 4 and 5 show pottery pieces (jugs or musical instruments?) that were buried with people and show what the person looked like.  When people died they were mummified in a fetal position and left to dry out for 60-70 days. During the mummification period the pottery pieces and other items that would be buried with the person were made and collected.  When the mummy was ready to be buried, it was enclosed with much padding in fabric that looked like clothing (picture 6), a mask that looked like the person placed over his face and a feathered hat placed on his head.

The museum also had a wonderful collection of jewelry. Picture 7 shows the nose and ear decorations for men. The ear pieces went through the ear with a shaft about an inch wide (ouch!). The nose pieces somehow magically stayed on the nose—don’t understand.

Finally, the last picture shows one of the storerooms. Unlike most museums, the pieces not on permanent display are crowded into glass-fronted cases so you can see them. There were at least 6 storerooms with floor-to-ceiling artifacts. Truly amazing!!!