essay
The development of Chimu administration in Chan Chan
origins and development of the andean state • Cambridge [Cambridgeshire] • Published In 1987 • Pages: 97-110
By: Klymyshyn, Alexandra M. Ulana.
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
Architectural remains at Chan Chan provide the basis for diagnosing administrative organization and changes wrought by the expansion of the Chimu empire, divided for this purpose into two stages. Few artifacts can be associated with administrators other than wooden staffs and vessels for [i]chicha[/i] (maize beer), so identification of administrative rooms is based mainly on their form and their association with other architectural remains. Chan Chan has ten monumental compounds, thirty-four elite compounds, and numerous small irregular agglutinated rooms (SIAR). Courts with U-shaped structures and storerooms in monumental and elite compounds are assumed to have been for administrative activities. A relative chronology is presented for the construction of monumental and elite compounds, and storage capacity is charted over time. Capacity was highest when the Laberinto compound was in use. It has two entrances and lacks a burial platform, so it probably wasn’t used as a palace. It probably was built at the start of the second stage of imperial expansion, and could have served to store tribute surpluses redistributed to lower-class residents of Chan Chan. U-shaped structures and elite compounds appear with the first stage of expansion, but there are more of each after the second expansion, along with a new type of elite compound without burial platforms, smaller elite compounds, and isolated [i]arcones[/i] (smaller U-shaped structures, with bins). These changes reflect the expansion of the administrative hierarchy, evidently with two levels added in the second phase: administrators in Type A elite compounds and those in the isolated [i]arcones[/i].
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Administrative agencies
- Public structures
- Miscellaneous facilities
- Housing
- Warehousing
- Cities
- Classes
- traditionCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- Chimu
- HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
- 2015
- RegionThe area the document pertains to
- South America
- Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
- Central Andes
- Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
- essay
- Evaluation
- Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
- Archaeologist
- Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
- 4: Excellent Secondary Data
- 5: Excellent Primary Data
- AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
- Sarah Berry; 2014
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- 1983
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- 1100-530 BP (AD 900-1470)
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- Chan Chan, Huanchaco, Trujillo province (Moche Valley), La Libertad, Peru
- NotesAdditional notes
- Alexandra M. Ulana Klymyshyn
- For bibliographical references see document 39:[Haas, Pozorski, and Pozorski] (1987, References cited)
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- 86019332
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Chimu