Last weekend was a long weekend here in Tumbes so us foreigners popped down to Chiclayo (5-8 hours south of Tumbes, depending on your mode of transport) to try out big city life. It turned out to be a bit of a culture shock. Everything was so clean and shiny. We went shopping in the mall and ate fast food. We went to the movies and paid too much for popcorn. All the toilets had toilet paper and soap. It just didn't feel right.
LOS PIRAMIDES (The pyramids)
The remains of a pyramid in Túcume.
EL SEÑOR DE SIPAN (The Lord of Sipan)
El Señor is a mummy found untouched with 1200 pieces of gold in a tomb near Chiclayo in 1987. It is said to be the most important archaeological discovery of recent times. El Señor was a king of the Moche people in c.200 A.D. and may or may not have looked like this...
My Belgian friend is still confused as to why he was important enough to be buried with live sacrifices including his wife, concubines, guards, a small child, old person, dogs and all his riches. It makes perfect sense to me, though. It's the perfect solution to ensuring that no-one near to the king attempts to assassinate him in order to inherit some of his fortune. Instead they'd be working hard to make sure he survives for as long as possible.
Another fantastic idea the Moche people had was live sacrifices to provoke the gods to send rain. We saw a replica of one tomb that had (I think, but am not sure I followed the Spanish) more than 20 women that had been sacrificed. Some of them ordered in groups of women from the same family. Perhaps they could try that in Australia. It's also a good way to get rid of excess women. And, indeed, there are more women born in Peru than men. Perhaps this is an evolutionary development, though, to make up for the shortage of women during droughts. It's a bit chicken and egg.
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