The Chimú were a culture that lasted from approximately 900 CE until 1470 CE along the northern coast of modern-day Peru, centered in the city of Chan Chan. The Chimú expansion also incorporated many different ethnic groups, including the Sicán culture, which lasted independently until 1375.
Who influenced the Chimu?
Influenced by the Wari and Moche civilizations, the Chimú would continue and expand upon artistic themes which have become staple features of Andean art ever since.
When did the Chimu civilization began?
about 900 AD
Chimor (also Kingdom of Chimor or Chimú Empire) was the political grouping of the Chimú culture. The culture arose about 900 AD, succeeding the Moche culture, and was later conquered by the Inca emperor Topa Inca Yupanqui around 1470, fifty years before the arrival of the Spanish in the region.
How did the Chimu empire spread?
They expanded by conquest from Piura to Casma and Paramonga in the south. Their state apparently began to take shape in the first half of the 14th century ad, at a time of great increase in population. The Chimú constructed cities and developed large-scale irrigation systems.
What language did the Chimu speak?
Church records suggest that there were at least two but possibly three distinct languages spoken on the North Coast: Quingnam, the language of the Chimu monarchs, Mochica, a dialect spoken along the coast, and Pescadora, the language of the North Coast fisherfolk.
What was the capital city of Chimu?
Chan Chan
Chan Chan, great ruined and abandoned city, the capital of the Chimú kingdom (c. ad 1100–1470) and the largest city in pre-Columbian America. It is situated on the northern coast of present-day Peru, about 300 miles (480 km) north of Lima in the Moche valley, between the Pacific Ocean and the city of Trujillo.
What type of artwork did the Chimu people create?
Some 9,000 artists and artisans in barrios outside the ciudadelas were provided with their materials and maintained by the state so they could create the sumptuous textiles, featherwork, ceramics, gold and silver artworks and Spondylus oyster jewelry so valued by the elite of Chimu society.
What does Chimu mean?
Definition of Chimu (Entry 1 of 2) 1a : an extinct Yuncan people of the northwest coast of Peru. b : a member of such people. 2 : the language of the Chimu people — compare yunca. Chimu.
Why is Chan Chan important?
Chan Chan (Chimor) was the capital city of the Chimu civilization which flourished on the northern coast of Peru between the 12th and 15th centuries CE. Today, many of Chan Chan’s huge palace complexes with their high relief-decorated adobe walls still survive as testimony to the city’s lost grandeur.
How old is Chan Chan Peru?
During its heyday, about 600 years ago, Chan Chan, in northern Peru, was the largest city in the Americas and the largest adobe city on earth.
How many ciudadelas are at Chan Chan?
ten walled ciudadelas
The city has ten walled ciudadelas which housed ceremonial rooms, burial chambers, temples, reservoirs and residences for the Chimú kings. In addition to the ciudadelas, other compounds present in Chan Chan include courts, or audencias, small, irregular agglutinated rooms (SIARs) and mounds called huacas.
What language did the Moche speak?
Language. The Moche civilization spoke two distinct languages. North of the Lambayeque Valley, the people spoke the Muchik or Mochica language. Through the rest of their territory to the south, they spoke the Quingan language.
