essay
Ciudadelas: their form and function
chan chan: andean desert city • Albuquerque • Published In 2010 • Pages: 55-66
By: Day, Kent C..
Abstract
The center section of Chan Chan covers an area of about six kilometers square, containing ten large rectangular enclosures called [i]ciudadelas[/i] that correspond to the ten historically recorded Chimu kings. The [i]ciudadelas[/i] are enclosed by adobe walls up to nine meters high, built in sections that probably represent labor units. Inside, the architecture includes U-shaped structures or [i]audiencias[/i], storerooms, entry courts, and burial platforms. Looting of the [i]audiencias[/i] and burial platforms indicate they contained dedicatory burials and other offerings. Other notable features at Chan Chan are elite compounds, SIAR (small irregularly agglutinated rooms), [i]huacas[/i] or sacred mounds, sunken gardens (that may have begun as borrow pits for building materials), and cemeteries. The author sees the U-shaped structures as administrative control points, indicating that the [i]ciudadelas[/i] were the administrative centers and bureaucratic headquarters of the Chimu empire.
- HRAF PubDate
- 2015
- Region
- South America
- Sub Region
- Central Andes
- Document Type
- essay
- Evaluation
- Creator Type
- Archaeologist
- Document Rating
- 4: Excellent Secondary Data
- Analyst
- Sarah Berry; 2014
- Field Date
- not specified
- Coverage Date
- 1100-524 BP (AD 900-1476)
- Coverage Place
- Chan Chan, Huanchaco, Trujillo province (Moche Valley), La Libertad, Peru
- Notes
- Kent C. Day
- For bibliographical references see document 18:[Moseley and Day] (2010, References)
- Reprint of 1982 copy
- LCCN
- 80054567
- LCSH
- Chanchán (Peru)