Post by theshee on Jul 1, 2015 9:04:56 GMT 10
Two decorated silver cups found in the Chachapoyas region of Peru may rewrite the history of the enigmatic ancient people, who had never been known to do metalworking before this discovery.
Though the “people of the clouds,” as the name Chachapoya means, had cities, a form of Inca writing, and long-distance trade, they were not known as metalsmiths. It is still possible, however, that the two cups were from the Inca people, with whom the Chachapoya had warred.
The silver vessels were excavated by an archaeological team in the Soloco Purunllacta in Chachapoyas of the Amazonas department. They are unlike anything found there before.
“The finding of these vessels will change the story about Chachapoyas,” Jose Santos Trauco Ramos of the Decentralized Department of Culture of the Amazonas, told El Comercio.
The vessels, which have similar, raised decorations, each weigh 152 grams (5.36 ounces) and are 112 millimeters (4.4 inches) high and 117 millimeters (4.6 inches) in diameter. They are between 0.8 and 1 mm thick and show no corrosion of any type. They will go display at the Museum of Chachapoyas, which has yet to open.
The decorations in relief on the cups show male and female characters with hands joined and wearing headdresses, dressed in clothing with geometric designs. Some of the figures carry a bag and some an ax. There are points and notches as decorations, also in relief.
“The two vessels have recently finished a 60-day restoration period at the conservation area of the Museo Arqueologico Nacional Bruning of Lambayeque. Trauco says it is too early to be sure, but there is a possibility that the vessels with Inca influence, could have been offerings,” says Peru This Week.
The Chachapoya people, who had a type of circular architecture and zig-zag decorative motifs, lived in a large, inaccessible territory at the headwaters of the Amazon River between the Huallaga and Marañon rivers in the cloud forests of the slopes of the eastern Andes mountains. Their culture flourished between 900 and 1500 AD.
Archaeologists know it was an egalitarian society because of the equal concern shown to people of all societal strata who were mummified. The society of more than 500,000 people controlled trade routes between the peoples of the Andes and the Amazon, says the British Museum, which has several Chachapoya artifacts.
The Chachapoya appeared to use the communication system called Quipu, which used twining and knots in different colors that conveyed information that could be read by a person literate in Quipu. The British Museum calls Quipu or Khipu “one of the great mysteries of archaeology as they have never been deciphered.”
Kuelap, a walled city of the Chachapoyas, was huge and comparable to other architectural feats in the Americas. The city, now in ruins, was 3,000 meters (9,842 feet) above sea level. Its walls were 600 meters (1,980 feet) long and 19 meters (62 feet) high. It may have been built to defend against Huari or other people bent on attacking the peaceful Chachapoyas. More than 2,000 slingshot stones were found in a tower at Kuelap, possibly to defend from attacking Inca warriors in the 15th century.
The British Museum says of mummified Chachapoyas: “How the Chachapoya prepared their dead provides one of the best indications of the egalitarian nature of their society. The same reverent conditions were provided for each person and the way they were mummified, preserved and often visited suggests that the link between the living and the dead was always maintained.” link