PERU BEFORE THE INCAS
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By Santiago Uceda
The Musée du Quai Branly
– Jacques Chirac is presenting Le Pérou avant les
Incas (Peru Before the Incas), an exhibition featuring
293 archaeological objects, most of which
were unearthed in the course of the important
excavation projects that have taken place on the
northern coast of Peru since 1987 at the sites of
Sipán, Chotuna-Chornancap, San José de Moro,
Huaca Cao, Huaca del Sol, and Huaca de la
Luna. The exhibition spans the time from the 8th
century BC to approximately AD 1470, the time
of the arrival of the Inca on the northern coast of
Peru and of the conquest of the kingdom of Chimor.
This time span of more than 2,000 years saw
the rise of many civilizations, including the Cupisnique
(800–400 BC), Salinar and Virú (40 BC–
AD 300), Moche (AD 100–850), Lambayeque
(AD 900–1530), and Chimú (AD 1100–1530).
The exhibition focuses primarily on the ways
in which the complex societies of the north coast
were formed, an examination that is framed as a
refl ection upon power. This approach casts light
on how the Inca were the product of the social development
prior to Spanish colonization. The rise
of the Inca can be seen as roughly analogous to
that of the Roman Empire and the role it played
in the social development of the peoples of the
Old World.
The installation is divided into fi ve sections: 1)
the role played by geography; 2) celestial power;
3) power expressed through architecture; 4) terrestrial
power; and 5) high-ranking and powerful
women in coastal societies over the course of
more than a millennium.
The northern coast of Peru is one of the most
arid regions on earth. This desert is crossed by riv-
FIG. 1 (right): Portrait vessel
with turban and neck cover.
Moche III, Peru.
AD 300–400.
Terracotta, pigment. H: 18 cm.
Museo Huacas de Moche, inv. PT-002.
© Trujillo, Proyecto Huaca de la Luna
– Museo Huacas del Valle de Moche,
Universidad Nacional de Trujillo,
Ministère de la culture du Pérou.
FIG. 2 (below left):
Rattle depicting a deity.
Moche, Peru. AD 250–500.
Gold. H: 9.6 cm.
Museo Tumbas Reales de Sipán,
inv. 5307.
© Musée du Quai Branly – Jacques
Chirac. Photo: Eduardo Hirose.
© Lambayeque, Museo Tumbas Reales
de Sipán – Archivo, Ministère de la
Culture du Pérou.
ART on view