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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 Museo Nacional Sicán
Photo Gallery
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