The Lords of Sipan archeological site and the two accompanying museums (one on site and one in nearby Lambayeque) are, indeed, the "creme de la creme" of the Moche findings thus far, and the findings in the tombs of the two Moche lords, as well as that of the priest, may overshadow the findings in King Tut's tomb, according to some.
The 3 prominent aspects of the Sipan exhibition are
- the Museo Tumbas Reales in the city of Lambayeque which includes hundreds of gold, silver, and copper artifacts from the tombs of the two lords and the priest, as well as jewels, pottery, etc. -- all cleaned up for some gorgeously golden viewing,
- the on-site museum (Museo de Sitio) which includes all of the artifacts of the warriors and other "lesser" burial sites mostly in their natural form (the way they were found), and
- the archeological site itself at Huaca (temple) Rajada - Sipan.
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Museo Tumbas Reales in Lambayeque -- the museum holding
the splended artifacts from the major tombs |
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| Museo de Sitio -- the on-site museum at Huaca Rajada-Sipan |
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Huaca (temple) Rajada - Sipan -- the archeological site
itself, which is still actively being excavated |
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more of the excavations -- the great thing about these
sites is that you can actually watch the archeologists working. |
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the entrance to the site -- a representation of one
of the ear spools (ear decorations) found in the lord's tomb |
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| an article from La Republica (it came out while we were there) indicating that the Moche route has become the second most-visited tourist destination in Peru, following Machu Picchu. The day before we were at the Museo Tumbas Reales, the Presidents of both Ecuador and Peru were there (we travel in good company!). |
We will provide a smattering of details and pictures from each of these three locations and from the three major tombs, which all work together to provide an overall picture of the culture during the Moche time period.
The archeological site is just outside of Chiclayo and Lambayeque. This site was especially exciting to see because of the reading we had completed prior to going, especially the Lords of Sipan book. At this site, they recently found magnificent tombs of two lords (related, according to the DNA, confirming the belief that the highest governing spot was passed down in a family) and one high-ranking priest. One died (the old lord) around 300 CE and the other two died around 600 CE. They have also found 14 other tombs of warriors and priests, along with several sacificed victims, as well as chalices providing the evidence that someone drank the blood of the victims -- all in the name of their religion to assure their culture would thrive.
The tomb of the highest-ranking priest (600 CE): From the tomb, one can get a decent picture of this person and what he represented.
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| Given the artifacts found in the tomb, this is what the priest looked like before death at about 40 years of age and at about the same time as the young lord's death. Yes, all that regalia is gold, and the most exciting piece, according to the archologists, is the chalice he holds in his right hand. The study of the contents in that chalice seem to prove their hypothesis that the priests drank the human blood of the sacrified warriors, assuring, in their minds, that the culture would continue to be successful. |
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| This is a graphic, color representation of the arrangement within the priest's tomb. Several factors one can see here were true of all of the burial sites of the high-ranking people. (1) First, there is the mummy of the high-ranking person himself, buried with all of the trappings of his societal position -- here, the dude in the middle. (2) There was always a sacrified llama or two in the burial tomb, here visible in the bottom left. This llama had his head cut off, which was common to see in the tombs. (3) There was the wife, also sacrificed, lying alongside the person who died, and in the full regalia of her station, here lying to his left. (4) In this tomb, there are also two other women, who were also sacrificed and who were most likely concubines of the priest, here one lying to his right and one lying to the left of his wife. (5) There is also the bones of a child, a snake, and a dog at his feet. It could have been his child who died earlier, but it could also be a sacrificed child, which was done at times to provide innocence and purity to the tomb. |
While some of these details may seem gruesome to us, they believed they were heading to a better world and would all still be living when they arrived. Thus, they were buried with their clothes, with pottery filled with food and drink (which was replenished often), with their loved ones, and with everything they needed to complete the next part of their "life" journey.
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| Here is the museum representation of how the burial site looked after a couple of centuries had passed. |
Fortunately, neither this priest's tomb nor the tombs of the two lords of Sipan had been reached by huaqeros (but they were REALLY close), so the archeologists were able to painstakingly clear the sites, and in the process, save and reconstruct the sites.
The most exciting recent discoveries, however, were the two tombs of the lords of Sipan.
The tomb of the Lord of Sipan (600 CE):
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| This is the way the Lord of Sipan would have looked, given his burial garments and based on his mummy. He died around the age of 40 and didn't appear to have any battle wounds, so he probably died from a disease. |
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| This is the museum recreation of his tomb, complete with his wives (one at his head and one at his feet), at his right side is a warrior, at his immediate left is the standard bearer, at his far left is a child buried with a now-extinct spotted dog, the preferred dog of the Moche royalty, and at the top left of the picture in the niche, you can see the bones of the sentry sitting cross-legged. |
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| This is a close-up representation of the articles within the tomb, but you can't see them all. There were 5 layers of gold, silver, copper, jewels, and numerous spondylus shell ornaments beneath him, and 5 more layers on top of him. This guy had bling! |
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| This is the guardian who is seen in the upper right hand corner of the tomb representation picture. Many of the tombs had "guardians" who were males who were sacrificed and then had their feet amputated, so they couldn't run off and do their own thing in heaven -- or wherever. Their role was to guard! So notice the footless skeleton. |
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| Remember that this tomb was found in tact, but the tomb raiders were close! Notice the vertical concrete inset starting at the top of the picture. That inset was a hole which the huaqueros (tomb raiders) had dug. |
The tomb of the old Lord of Sipan (300 CE):
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| This is the graphic representation of the "old" Lord of Sipan (300 CE), given the regalia found in the tomb. He was about 50 years old when he died and DNA showed that he was related to the young Lord of Sipan. He also had bling! |
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| This was the way he was laid out in his tomb, and unlike the young Lord, all of his bling was on top of him -- 10 layers of it. All of the jewels, gold, silver, and other artifacts are in the Museo Tumbas Reales, and all have been reconstructed and shined up, so what you can see is spectacular. This museum, opened in July of 2011, is proclaimed to be the best museum in Latin America, and while we certainly haven't been to all of them, we can attest that this one is spectacular. |
Unfortunately, no photos are allowed in the Museo Tumbas Reales, but this is a world stop that is absolutely necessary for those of you interested in archeology and ancient civilizations. The gold and silver handiwork on necklaces, clothing, earring, etc. is amazing, as is the entire story weaved by the pottery and the artifacts combined.
To see some of the items, go to the pics on these two links:
This is one place we hope to return to in about 10 years to see what else they have found. Wanna join us?
Yes.
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