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First Civilizations - 10,000 - 900 B.C. Hunters moved into the Peru area around 10,000 B.C. and during the following 7,000 years the population began to live in larger groups and to settle on the coast. They became skilled in making fishing nets. Their textiles, made by a process called twining, became more decorative and intricate. Often these textiles portrayed animals, people and plants changing from one form to another or blending into a new creature. By about 2,000 B.C. settlements became larger and moved farther inland as farming became more important than marine resources. Religious centres with monumental architecture were important and were separate from the settlements where people lived. In an attempt to control nature, the people placed the focus of religious activity in the mountains where the river�s that fed their irrigation canals originated. Chavin - 900 - 200 B.C. During this time a new architectural and artistic style spread across Peru. Chavin is believed to have been the centre of a religious cult and a nexus for trade. Chavin style combines architectural elements such as the sunken courtyards as well as images of jaguars, snakes and half-animal half-human creatures. The style is very complex, symbolic and contains many images of transformation from one creature into another. Medical Wonders of Ancient Peru Illnesses and cures were steeped in the world of magic for ancient Peruvians. Basic curative magic is still practiced today by native masters who are thought to have inherited their powers of healing from their ancestors. According to ancient and contemporary sources, there were two fundamental causes of illnesses: fright or jani, which caused the temporary abandonment of the soul from the body, and harm produced by strangers or occasionally by natural agents or by the dead. The healer was called to help counteract the damage caused by malicious agents through magic. Plants were cultivated for medical purposes. The San Pedro cactus was and still is the medicinal hallucinogen of choice along the north coast. It is frequently mixed with other ingredients that strengthen its psychoactive powers. Healers also practiced chupa, a technique used to extract and cure infections by suctioning the inflicted area with the mouth. Healing of dental cavities through prosthesis was also practiced using copper alloys. To release evil spirits and perhaps to treat head injuries as well as relieve ailments such as epilepsy and headaches, the people of ancient Peru practiced a primitive form of cranial surgery through trepanation. Some skulls show obvious re-growth around the edges, indicating that the patient lived for some time following the surgery. Cranial operations began as early as 400 B.C. and over time the survival rate increased to more than half. Paracas - 800 - 100 B.C. On the south coast, the site Paracas gives its name to a group of people who lived in loosely affiliated farming and fishing villages. Paracas itself was a burial centre for the elite members of the community. Mummification was practiced, and the bones of those buried in Paracas show that successful brain surgery was practiced there more than 1,500 years ago. There are also skulls with disks of bone removed, which show the smooth edges of re-growth, indicating healing which is proof that the patients lived long after surgery was performed on them. Paracas style was very influenced by Chavin imagery. Pottery is painted with abstracted natural and supernatural images. Nazca - 0 � 600 A.D. Nazca followed the Paracas culture on the south coast and appears to be a direct outgrowth of the earlier culture. The Nazca influenced the surrounding cities and the entire south coast through trade and a loosely knit political and religious affiliation. Stylised, abstract images of mythical beings, felines, foxes and trophy heads are typical themes on the beautifully painted polychrome vessels. This group however, has mostly become known for the Nazca lines, a group of gigantic drawings of animals and geometric designs etched on the floor of the desert. What was the purpose of these huge carvings in the Nazca desert that were not discovered until this century? These lines are so vast they can only be interpreted from the air. Were the drawings trails to be walked as part of a ritual experience? Were they offerings to the gods of the air or mountains? It has been a theory that perhaps these lines are ancient landing strips or, maybe messages to others not of this planet. Whatever the reason they were made, they still remain a source of wonder today. The Nazca Lines - Why can they only be fully seen by flying high above the desert floor? Moche - 0 � 600 A.D. The Moche civilization thrived at the same time as the Nazca, but to the far north of Peru. The Moche established an empire through conquest. Realistic portrayals of humans, animals and plants are characteristics of Moche style. The sculpted pottery speaks to us today of warfare, ritual, sickness, and healing. They created individualized and expressive models of the natural, human and supernatural worlds. The aggressive, warlike nature is reflected in images of warriors and warfare depicted in their ceramics, gold work, textiles and frescoes. Wari (Huari) - Tiwanaku (Tiahuanaco) - 500 � 900 A.D. Originated in the southern highlands, the Wari had developed an agricultural system of elaborate irrigation canals and terraced fields. This enabled them to cope with a drought better than Nazca and Moche. Sican (Lambayeque) - 700 - 1370 A.D. Toward the end of the Wari period, this regional style emerged in the north coastal valleys, centred on the Lambayeque valley. These valleys were incorporated into the Chimu Empire around 1,370. The Lambayeque style is identified by ceramics formed in elaborate moulds. Double spouted bottles and whistling pots are characteristics of the style. Did this sound cause hypnotic states or alter consciousness? Chancay - 1000 - 1400 A.D. After the fall of the Wari Empire, a style called Chancay arose in the central coast along several river valleys. This culture is primarily known from its ceramics. They are most noted for producing tomb guardians and human effigy vessels that were first coated with a white slip, and then decorated with a dark brown slip. Chancay was incorporated into the Chimu Empire around 1,400. Chimu - 900 - 1430 A.D. The Chimu Empire�s capital, Chan Chan, was located only a few miles from the old Moche centre. The Chimu forged the greatest empire Peru had seen prior to the Inca. They constructed enormous cities of adobe decorated with frescoes and carvings in the mud walls. The ceramics produced at Chimu were cast in moulds, and were mass-produced. The pottery did not have the artistry of the earlier Nazca or Moche vessels, but the Chimu were master metal smiths, producing beautiful objects of gold and silver. Inca - 1430 � 1532 A.D. The Incas grew from a small and politically unimportant group residing in the central highlands around 1,400. The Incas were known as conquerors because of their combination of fierce warfare and highly efficient organization they demonstrated when they conquered other empires. Prior to Spanish conquest in 1532, Peru had a variety of Indian cultures dating back to prehistoric times. The Inca Empire, which began in Cuzco around 1400, conquered and absorbed most of the existing cultures and in little more than 10 years ruled Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia. The Inca claimed to have descended from Inti, the Sun God (their most respected god). Cuzco was chosen as the capital and centre of the world. From the centre of Cuzco, the world was divided into four quarters, and the realm of the Inca was called Tahuantinsuyu - the land of the four quarters. The Inca proved themselves to be master architects and administrators; constructing remarkable cities perched high in the mountains. This is why it is so remarkable that the Spanish could come in and conquer this highly organized, successful and warlike empire with over ten million subjects with only a few hundred men armed with guns and riding on horses. The Spanish were only able to do so because the land of the four quarters had already fallen victim to the plague of European-brought small-pox, which travelled swiftly through the Native American population. The Inca empire was not only suffering the effects of plague, it was torn apart by civil war. Two brothers were fighting for control of the empire, and it was through manipulating this situation and deceit, that the Spanish were able to gain control of Tahuantinsuyu. The Spaniard�s search for gold is was brought them to the land of the Inca. They found gold beyond their wildest dreams: temple ceilings covered with gold, gold vessels, gold doors. Unfortunately, the Spanish melted down the gold for easier transportation back to Spain. Therefore, we are able to experience the genius of the Inca primarily through their amazing architecture. Inca Culture |
| Ancient Civilizations of Peru |