I SPEND SOME TIME WITH THE LORD OF SIPAN – PERU 2004 – PART II

Each time I prepare to write an article, I go over it again and again in my mind. I try to get every detail accurate. Of course, with the passage of time, things are not as clear, to me, as they once were. Consequently, I fret over details to make sure they are perfect. If I do not feel 100% confident, with something I am going to write down, I either temper it, or avoid it altogether. I now realize how wrong this is, when writing my own memoirs. I realized, that for myself, I want to remember events, “like I remember them”. Not like they might be written in a text book. Thus, my new mantra; “MEMORY IS A POET, NOT A HISTORIAN”! From this point onward, my writing will reflect how I remember events, not how they would appear in a history book.

The next memory I want to write about, was our visit to the Lord of Sipan Museum in Lambayeque, north of the city of Chiclayo. I want to do this, because it might have, possibly, been the “single” most stunning piece of Peruvian history, ever found. Without doubt, that is saying something! Peru is a place where you cannot go more than a few miles without seeing something unbelievable. This discovery was another whole world of unbelievable. What it consisted of was one burial tomb, that was 100% intact, just as it was left when a Moche nobleman was buried here 1700 years ago. In the immediate area of this undiscovered tomb, lay the remains of other tombs ravaged by the grave robbers. Yet this one remained untouched and intact.

The visit to this historic site, is very difficult to write about, because of the fact, that, the actual ruins are 60 km’s south of the Museum, at a place called SIPAN. A team of archaeologists from Lima were actively excavating two or three small pyramids, when this tomb was discovered. The site, in itself was pretty spectacular and consisted of mud brick mounds (pyramids). These “facts” are just my memories of what the guide told us while we were touring the museum. No one was allowed at the site of the burial, because excavation was ongoing. We had to settle for a brand new museum, containing a 100% removal and exact replacement of the burial chamber. The pictures, of the site at Sipan, are from a book I purchased at the museum. It’s my book, hence I feel entitled to borrow some photos.

No pictures were allowed inside the museum, which also makes writing about it, equally difficult. We stopped there, early on the second morning, of our visit to the north of Peru. I suppose, the locals had heard that we were coming, so they had a welcoming party of school children, waiting out front to greet us. As we approached, the children waved, and posed for us. Many of them found this, a fine time to practice their English. Cries of “Hello Mr. Gringo”, “How are you gringo”, and “Are you USA, No?”, abounded. It was quite cute, if not, perhaps, somewhat embarrassing. Ange had a photo session with them before we entered the museum.

What made this discovery so unique, was that it contained, a 100% perfect burial and all of its contents. Surprisingly, The huaqueros, or grave robbers had not yet found this tomb, even though they had dug up and stripped bare, many others around it. What we were presented with, was a 100% exact relocation of the burial site, in the same state, as it was discovered. Every single item was recorded and mapped to its actual place in the burial mound. Each piece was moved to the Museum and placed in exactly the same position as it was in, when found. One thing I puzzled over, and still do, is the “why” of moving this spectacular find, 60km’s away, from its discovery location. Why not leave it where it is/was? Remember, I never, ever, said that I had Peruvian logic sorted out.

The site was from about the year, 300AD. Not one item had been moved, NO ONE had looked upon this buried LORD OF SIPAN, from the time that they closed the tomb over his body. Never before, had such a perfect excavation been seen. The first look at this magnificent tomb, was truly breathtaking. For me it had the same impact as when I first looked at a line in the sand, at Nazca, 25 years before. It was an extremely important find for World Archaeology. What’s more, Not since the unearthing of King Tut, under a pyramid, in Egypt, had such a discovery been made. I could hardly wait to enter. The young boys, however could have easily given this a miss, in return for a couple hours play in the playground. We bought our tickets, shopped a bit and waited for our guided tour to begin.

The tomb believed to be from, approximately, the year 300AD, belonged to a Nobleman of the Moche culture. And around him were buried about 500 pieces of his finest possessions, jewelry, as well as, assorted snacks and tools, for the journey. It was magnificent. Also buried at the same time, were a couple of soldiers and an assortment of (wives?). Conveniently, all had, had their feet lopped off, at the ankles. I suppose this was to prevent them from getting out of the tomb and fleeing, after the burial. Seems like they had Peruvian wives also. Perhaps, I can remember Deysi, saying “I’d just like to see them try and get me down in there!”

My god, it was like being present at the burial, those hundreds of years before. In a way it was surreal. Had I been in this place before? Had Deysi jumped down in there with me, to look after me in the afterlife? Who knows, right? For me, the most incredible things were the jewelry. The craftsmanship was amazing. Pieces were crafted of Gold, Silver, Lapis Lazuli, Turquoise, Beads, Shells, Pearls, Bronze, Copper and Leather, as well as, many other ornamental materials. I also remember some of the Moche symbology buried with the Lord. For instance, he had a necklace, fashioned, with 10 gold peanuts and 10 silver peanuts. The peanut was an important food crop of this culture and area. the gold signified masculinity and the sun, and the silver, femininity and the moon.

The Lord was decorated from head to toe, even his eyes, nose and mouth were adorned. He wore beads, chain, amulets, decorative armour plates, a headdress, nose and ear plugs, and various other religious symbols. Without question, he was truly magnificent. I remember, it said somewhere, or on something, that he was between 35-40 years old, and about 5’4″ tall. That does not seem like a long life. Secondly, he was no giant. But probably both were normal in those times. Incredibly, he was moved piece by piece to his final resting place in the museum and replaced in the exact same position as he was in at the tomb in Sipan.

The tomb had been created underground in the Museum. And in order to view it all, we had to go down level after level into the earth. What I found most fascinating were the videos and narrative of the tour. Just when we thought we had seen everything imaginable, the tour guide explained that another nobleman’s burial place had just been discovered 30 feet further down in the tomb (at Sipan). It was explained that the new burial chamber was probably, 150 years older than the one containing the Lord of Sipan. Logically, the body, found in the deeper tomb, was named, the Old Lord of Sipan. However, excavation of this new burial site was just starting when we visited. Therefore little information was available about its history and contents.

What I remember most about this place was the utter beauty and craftsmanship of the jewellery and adornments worn by those interred at Sipan. Incredibly the gold work was fine in detail and the figures were exquisite in workmanship. I learned that the Moche’ peoples were masters of metalworking. They passed down style and technique, related to metal work, pottery making, weaving and bead making. Their craft influenced South American art, into and past, the time of the arrival of the Spanish. Unbelievably, the Moche influence lasted well over 1000 years.

Over time, who knows how many 100,000’s of pieces were removed from archaeological sites in Peru and sold to collectors overseas. If there is any defence, for this grave robbing. It might possibly be, that the grave robbers, mostly consisted of very poor locals. They made a few extra soles selling trinkets, for which they had no idea of the significance. Middlemen from the larger cities paid pennies for these treasures and in turn sold them to collectors from overseas. It is these low lives, both the middlemen and the collectors, that I have a boiling dislike for. Undoubtably they knew exactly what they were taking from the Peruvian culture and history. My opinion is that there is no punishment too harsh for them.

Once again, we snooped around, listened to the narrative from the tour guide and spent a couple of hours in the tomb under the museum. Unsurprisingly, the small children were restless, and rightly so. Painfully, there was not a lot for them to do underground. No place to run and no pictures allowed. Undoubtably, it must have seemed like torture to them. Ange held up quite well with promises of a visit to the beach, to follow our tour. Ange was by now about 19 years old. She had visited 100’s of places with us over the years. It seemed she never got real tired of hanging out with the old folks. Today, she has become the organizer of family excursions, along with her mom. She is starting to assume some of Desyi’s planning roles. Ange is a true traveller.