Diplomatist Magazine Diplomatist January 2019 | Page 49

PE RU’S
PERU’S
U’S
’ S
FABULOUS TREASU
ASU
ASURES,
THE LARGEST EXHIBITION
EX
OF ITS KIN
KIND IN ASIA
P
eru is a thriving melting pot of ancient civilisations
and modern global traditions. The roots of what
we can characterise today as Peruvian culture date
back to around 3,000 BC, almost simultaneous with that of
Mesopotamia, Egypt and India. The tradition that followed
Caral gave rise to a vast amount of cultures, each one with
their own unique pantheon, organisation and art.
Before the Incas were the Chavin, the Paracas, the Moche,
the Wari, the Chimu and many more. Each one of them settled
in a diff erent part of the capricious Peruvian geography. Each
one left an imprint that would be salvaged and adapted by
the cultures that arrived later. The pottery of Nazca, Moche
and Wari; the textiles of Chancay, Paracas and Inca; the
craftsmanship in precious metals of Moche, Lambayeque and
Chimu; the sculptures of Tiwanaku and Chavin.
Today, only few of the pieces left by the ancient inhabitants
of Peru remain. These allow archaeologists to reconstruct the
way these civilisations lived. The bulk of them are individual
pieces of pottery or jewellery, which tell only an incomplete
story, having been extracted from their original context.
Chambers and burials are diff erent: they provide scholars an
opportunity to peek into long-gone societies and understand
them to a much greater degree. Finding a site that remained
undisturbed after centuries of decay is a rare event.
Such is the case of the Lord of Sipan. In June 1987,
together with a team of student archaeologists, he carried
out work that resulted in the discovery of the tomb of Señor
de Sipan in Huaca Rajada. The discovery reached worldwide
resonance, taking the fi rst page of the National Geographic
Magazine. It was the fi rst time in the history of Peruvian
archaeology that the complete burial setting of a pre-Inca
ruler was found, and a majestic one at that. The tomb was
fi lled with majestic objects in gold and silver, as well as beads
made of spondylus, a rare shell found in the north of Peru and
Ecuador. New excavations and discoveries at Huaca Rajada
continue hitting the headlines to this day.
Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Diplomatist • Vol 7 • Issue 1 • January 2019, Noida • 49