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Location: Av. Batán
Grande Block 9, s/n. Carretera a Pítipo - Ferreñafe
Attention: Tuesday to Sunday from 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM
Telephone: (51 74) 286-469
Entrance: S/. 15 (US $ 4.5 aprox.), students S/. 7.50
The Museo Nacional Sicán
is a new museum situated in the city of Ferreñafe within
easy reach, 20 Km north of the city of
Chiclayo. It is
along the road to the Bosque de Pómac Historical
Sanctuary. The museum was inaugurated in November 2001.
This unique museum is the
result of over two decades of scientific investigation
by the Sicán Archaeological Project. The museum is
singular in a number of respects: It is dedicated to
scientific research of the Sicán culture and
dissemination of its results, as well as protection and
storage of the material remains of this culture. This
exhibit focuses on all aspects of the Sicán people and
their culture. You will see details of the domestic life
of commoners and the processes of making pottery and
metals, in addition to recreation of the tombs of Sicán
noblemen with many gold and other valuable goods. Many
artifacts are shown in their contexts of use and/or
manufacture.
All displayed artifacts were either derived from
scientific fieldwork or careful replication using what
we know of ancient technologies. In this regard, the
exhibit also includes explanations of how archaeologists
and their collaborators from other academic fields
conduct their investigations on various aspects of the
Sicán culture.
The Museum is a modern two floor concrete building
covering a 2,734.05 m² area. The first floor has
administrative offices, a library, artifact conservation
laboratories and storage areas as well as a conference
hall, a temporary exhibit hall, and a cafeteria. The
second floor accessible by a stairway or an elevator
(for handicapped individuals) and is dedicated to
exhibition of artifacts, illustrations and reproduction
models of many aspects of the Sicán culture and people.
THE SICÁN
ARCHAEOLOGICAL PROJECT
This Sicán Archaeological
Project was initiated in 1978 by a Japanese
archaeologist, Izumi Shimada, who just two years earlier
had received his Ph. D. degree in anthropology from the
University of Arizona in the U.S.A.
His dissertation focused
on the economic and social organization of Pampa Grande,
a large Mochica urban settlement situated in the mid-Lambayeque
Valley. The city was built around the gigantic adobe
pyramid of Huaca Fortaleza and served as the political
and religious center of the latest phase of the
Mochica culture.
Having discovered that
this city met its demise around A.D. 700-750, he
wondered what had happened to the Mochica population and
cultural tradition that had persisted over 500 years up
to that point and what group filled the political and
religious vacuum left behind.
Up to that time, the
extensive Lambayeque region had received little
archaeological attention in spite of various indications
of considerable political complexity, population size,
and economic wealth. This region not only had some of
the largest adobe mounds in pre-Hispanic South America,
but also the highest density of such constructions. In
addition, numerous large settlements, a series of large
inter-valley canals, and extensive agricultural fields.
Yet, the widespread and entrenched opinion of that time
saw the Lambayeque region as marginal to the "heartland"
of cultural developments on the North Coast, the Moche
valley (where the city of
Trujillo is
located) to the south. Shimada was convinced that the
region had been an important cultural center in
pre-Hispanic times and merited long-term research.
His search to define
post-Mochica cultural developments brought him to the
Batán Grande - Pómac area of the mid-La Leche Valley, a
small valley just to the north of the Lambayeque. He was
intrigued by the extraordinary concentration of adobe
pyramids and intense grave looting (huaquería) in the
area. He counted some 100,000 pits and hundreds of
bulldozers trenches in Pómac made by looters seeking
rich tombs. The style of architecture and artifacts he
saw there also indicated certain continuities with the
Mochica culture. He surmised that these pyramids and
tombs indicated that there was once a powerful and
flourishing culture, that Pómac was a major religious
center, and that enough archaeological remains existed
to study. Thus, in 1978 the Batán Grande - La Leche
Archaeological Project was born later called Sicán
Archaeological Project (SAP).
The little that was then
known of the Sicán culture was based on study of the art
style of looted objects. It was evident that what needed
was a sustained and comprehensive investigation based on
scientific excavations. Thus, the project set its
long-term research aim as gaining a holistic vision of
the Sicán culture. More specifically, it aimed to define
the chronology, environmental setting, developmental
processes, internal organization, and tangible and
intangible achievements of the Sicán culture.
To tackle this objective,
Shimada planned a regional study lasting at least 15
years. He felt that most archaeological investigations
in the Andes did not sustain research on any single
topic or region long enough to attain in-depth
understanding.
His regional approach
also entailed investigation of a multitude of sites in
different locations (e.g., capital versus peripheral),
and of different character (e.g., residential,
industrial and ceremonial), and size. He also assembled
a team of specialists from a wide range of disciplines
and nations to participate in planning and
implementation of field work as well as analysis and
interpretation of its results.
Investigation into Sicán
metallurgical production, for example, brought together
an art historian, a geologist, a goldsmith, an
historian, a mining engineer, a mineralogist, and
various chemists, metal conservators and metallurgists.
Thus, when a Middle Sicán elite tomb containing human
remains and diverse categories of objects ("The Huaca
Loro East Tomb") was excavated in 1991 at Huaca Loro,
many of the same team participated in excavation,
analysis and/or conservation. Specialists from England
and the U.S.A. were brought to Lima for conservation in
the
National Museum (Museo de la Nación) of the gold and
other objects excavated from this tomb. This arrangement
was not only efficient in terms of cost, time and
manpower, but allowed specialists to work side by side
with Peruvian conservators and students for on-site
training and experience.
To date the project team
has conducted 16 seasons of fieldwork over the past 22
years, excavating at 16 sites of varied size, period,
and character, mostly in the Batán Grande -Pómac area.
Many sites were excavated over a span of various
seasons. Our surveys have taken us as far north as the
Piura Valley and as far south as the Jequetepeque
Valley.
Five seasons were
dedicated to laboratory work. Over 30 specialists and 40
undergraduate and graduate students representing diverse
disciplines and countries (Cuba, England, Germany,
Hungary, Japan, Peru, Spain, and U.S.A.) have
participated in our project. Thus far, some 70
professional publications and 20 theses (doctoral,
master and bachelor) written in English, German,
Japanese and Spanish have resulted from our project.
This Sicán National
Museum
is the result of over two decades of scientific
investigation by the Sicán Archaeological Project and
cooperation between the Peruvian and Japanese
governments as well as generous donations from the Tokyo
Broadcasting System. It is dedicated to scientific
research of the Sicán culture and dissemination of its
results, as well as protection and storage of the
material remains of this culture.
Dr. Carlos Gustavo
Elera Arevalo
Director of Sican National Museum
Photo
Gallery
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