Origin of the Sicán The origin of the Sicán is not very clear and some believe that they are descendants of the Moche culture. According to legend, the founder of the Sicán civilization was a man named Naymlap. Supposedly, Naymlap came from the south with a flotilla of rafts, a retinue of warriors, and a stone idol in the form of a green woman. They conquered various valleys in the region and Naymlap began to build temples and palaces near the sea in the Lambayeque Valley. Twelve generations of leaders are said to have ruled the Sicán culture, the last of them being called Fempellec. According to legend, Fempellec was tempted to move the idol and this caused a month of intense rains and floods that wiped out the Sicán.
The burials of the "commoners" The Sicán culture was divided into three major periods, however, most of the archaeological evidence concerning the funerary practices of this civilization is part of the Middle Sicán period. It was observed that during this period commoners were buried in simple and shallow graves in residential places or in handicraft production sites. The pits were also reported to measure no more than 2 meters (6.5 feet) square. It has been said that these commoner burials are not properly recorded or analyzed, and are marginalized in terms of documentation, preservation, and analysis.
Funeral practices of the elites The burial practices of the elites received much more attention. It is through these elite burials that archaeologists have been able to identify changes from the previous Moche culture. For example, in the first burials of the Moche, chambers or coffins made of cane, trunk or adobe were commonly found. On the other hand, archaeological evidence shows that this practice was abandoned during the Middle Sicán period. Additionally, the Moche buried their dead in a recumbent position, while the Sicán buried them in a sitting position. This may be an indication that there was a change in the way life after death was conceived. The burials of the elite used to be loaded with grave goods, one more reason for the attention they received. In the East Tomb of Huaca del Loro, for example, around 1.2 tons of grave goods were discovered. Most of these objects (more than 2/3 of the total weight) were made of arsenical copper, tumbaga, or high-carat gold alloy. It has been noted that arsenical copper was accessible to both elites and commoners. Therefore, the amount of this metal in the burial is an indicator of the social status of that person.
Precious grave goods Objects found among the elite grave goods at Huaca del Loro include cast arsenical copper implements, gold, gold-silver, and tumbaga ornaments and ritual paraphernalia, as well as two piles of Spondylus princeps and Conus fergusoni shells. However, one of the most famous objects in this place is the magnificent golden mask and headdresses. This mask belonged to a seated man in his 40s to 50s who was entombed in a 9-square-meter (29.5-foot) tomb within a 11-meter (36-foot) shaft. The mask was painted red, had ear flaps, and a three-dimensional golden bat head on its forehead. The headdresses had gold feathers and 15 suspended golden discs.
Human sacrifices Another aspect of Sicán funerary practices that has recently attracted attention is human sacrifice. In Huaca del Loro, for example, there are 24 burials of women between the ages of 18 and 25. It has been suggested that these women were sacrificed to accompany elite men in the afterlife. However, not everyone agrees with this interpretation, and factors such as the differences in burial form are used to refute this version.
Another example of human sacrifice in the Sicán tombs can be found at the site of Huaca Las Ventanas. Unlike Huaca del Loro, most of the bodies there were of adult men. Another difference between Huaca del Loro and Huaca Las Ventanas is that the bodies of the women in Huaca del Loro were carefully placed around the burial of the elite, but those of Huaca Las Ventanas do not have any pattern of accommodation. Interestingly, it was suggested that the bodies entombed at Huaca Las Ventanas belonged to volunteers who engaged in a ritual that created life through the celebration of death. The graves of the Sicán culture allow a greater understanding of the different practices and social status in northern Peru between the years 750 and 1375 A.D.
Sources Cartwright, M., 2015. Lambayeque Civilization. [Online] Available at:http://www.ancient.eu/Lambayeque_Civilization/ Emery, K.M., 2012. Mass Sacrifice in Peru. [Online] Available at:https://bonesdontlie.wordpress.com/2012/01/03/mass-sacrifice-in-peru/ Roach, J., 2011. Mysterious Mass Sacrifice Found Near Ancient Peru Pyramid. [Online] Available at:http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/12/111228-mass-sacrifice-beer-headless-sican-pyramid-tomb-ancient-science/ Shimada, I., 2000. The Sican Culture. In:L.L. Minelli, ed. The Inca World:The Development of Pre-Columbian Peru, A.D. 1000-1534. Norman:University of Oklahoma Press, p. 51-63. Shimada, I. et al., 2004. An Integrated Analysis of Pre‐Hispanic Mortuary Practices:A Middle Sicán Case Study. Current Anthropology, 45(3), p. 369-402. www.anywhereperu.com, 2015. Archeology in Peru. [Online] Available at:http://www.anywhereperu.com/travel-guide/archeology-in-peru www.roughguides.com, 2015. The Sican Culture. [Online] Available at:http://www.roughguides.com/destinations/south-america/peru/trujillo-and-the-north/the-northern-desert/the-sican-culture/