The capital city of the Chimú was Chan Chan, with substantial towns at Farfan and Manchan, all of which have been archaeologically investigated recently. One recent study of Chimú society reported on 53 wooden sculptures, found at two Chimu huacas on the edge of Chan Chan. These carved wooden objects are about a foot tall and represent art styles of both Moche and Chimu design.
Rectangular three-sided structures shaped like Us are an important feature found at Chan Chan, as at many Chimu sites. These have only three walls, with a slightly elevated floor and thick walls with niches and other built-in cavities. Three types of U-shaped structures have been identified at Chimu sites, those with niches, those with troughs, and those with bins. The function of these buildings is not completely understood, but may have been associated with the distribution of goods or as storage for record-keeping administration, where quipu were kept and recorded.
Archaeologists associated with the Chimú include Alexandra M. Ulana Klymyshyn, J. H. Rowe, Michael Moseley, and Patricia Netherly.
Sources
Jackson, Margaret A. 2004 The Chimú Sculptures of Huacas Tacaynamo and El Dragon, Moche Valley, Peru. Latin American Antiquity 15(3):298-322.
Netherly, Patricia J. 1984 The management of late Andean irrigation systems on the north coast of Peru. American Antiquity 49(2):227-254.
Ortloff, Charles R., Michael E. Moseley, and Robert A. Feldman 1982 Hydraulic engineering aspects of the Chimu Chicama-Moche intervalley canal. American Antiquity 47(3):572-595.
Pozorski, Thomas and Shelia Pozorski 1997 Chermoya and guanabana in the archaeological record of Peru. Journal of Ethnobiology 17(2):235-248.
Topic, John R. 2003 From Stewards to Bureaucrats: Architecture and Information Flow at Chan Chan, Peru. Latin American Antiquity 14(3):243-274.
This glossary entry is part of the Dictionary of Archaeology.
