Walter Alva: cultivating local pride.
Moche culture
Comic strips tell the story of Sipán and guard against looting.
|
Desert
glory:
the story of the Moches
A
death mask.
Around a thousand
years before the Incas, between the first and seventh centuries A.D., the Moches
occupied a 600-kilometre wide band of desert off the northern coast of Peru, sandwiched
by the Pacific Ocean and the Andes. Only a civilization with highly developed technical
resources could have survived in one of the world’s most arid regions. The Moches
achieved this feat by developing a complex network of irrigation canals supplying
water to double the amount of land now cultivated in the same valleys. Divided into
small dominions ruled by autocratic lords, the Moches built giant adobe buildings
in the shape of truncated pyramids, the most outstanding example of which is the
35-metre high Huaca del Sol. They also engaged in pioneering metal production, particularly
with copper, and established sophisticated textile workshops.The discovery in 1987
of the tomb close to the town of Sipán belonging to a dignitary in one of
the Moches’ royal families has enabled researchers to learn much more about a hitherto
largely unknown civilization.
|
|
As
the current guardian of the tomb of the Lord of Sipán—the biggest archaeological
find in Latin America in recent decades—Peruvian archaeologist Walter Alva explains
how the village of Lambayeque has profited from a treasure miraculously saved from
looters and international smugglers
How was the Lord
of Sipán discovered?
When our team reached the site on February 25, 1987, it was already being extensively
pillaged by grave-robbers, who had stripped pieces of gold from one tomb. Local people
had taken control of the monument, and in the grip of a kind of gold-fever, were
trying to break into other tombs in search of more precious metals. If we hadn’t
done anything, the site would have very quickly been totally destroyed, as has already
occurred in many other sites like Vicus, Lomanegra, Frías and the Valley of
Jequetepeque. Peru was then in a serious economic and moral crisis. People thought
it was crazy for the police to protect an archaeological treasure that they believed
was their rightful property. The situation was very tense, and the only way to save
the monument was either to mount a heavy police guard or turn it into an archaeological
site, which is what we eventually did.
What financial backing did you have at the start?
Very little. Three hundred dollars from a local foundation, government assistance
to hire 20 labourers and, somewhat later, money from a brewery. Hiring the labourers
not only meant the site could be cleaned up, but also eased the tension with local
people by giving them work. One grave-robber died in a clash with police as the monument
was being repossessed.
Was there any help from abroad?
We received aid from the Heinz Foundation and from National Geographic in mid-1987
when we were certain that it was a very important find. The main tomb of the Lord
of Sipán contained a body wrapped in hundreds of copper, gold and silver objects
that were part of the funeral hoard. But the copper items were disturbingly corroded
and needed urgent restoration. Fortunately the Roman-Germanic Museum in Mainz (Germany)
offered to restore about 560 pieces and train technicians to run a small workshop
funded by German aid money which we established in Lambayeque after 1990.
Why was this necessary?
We needed it to restore fresh finds. When we discovered a new tomb in 1989 belonging
to the Old Lord of Sipán that was just as opulent and important as the first
one, the pieces were restored by Peruvian technicians to exactly the same effect
as the earlier ones had been in Germany. This laboratory, which has been partly funded
since 1992 by the Spanish government, has also restored artefacts from other digs.
Our curators, four of whom were trained in Madrid, have also taught a course in metal
conservation to Latin American technicians. We have been entirely self-sufficient
since 1998, which goes to show how international aid creates a lasting momentum.
The United States has managed to recover and return to Peru various items stolen
previously from a tomb in Sipán. How important is that help?
It’s crucial. In 1987, a gang of smugglers tried to sell one of the ornaments
for $1.6 million in a scandal involving several diplomats. Luckily, the United States
restricted the import of pieces from the Lord of Sipán’s tomb in 1990. This
law could only be extended once, but after it finally expired a memorandum of understanding
was signed in 1998 covering not only items from Sipán, but also almost all
the Peruvian heritage currently held in the United States. I think all countries
should have agreements like that: it’s the only way to close ranks against these
crimes, which affect so many countries with an extraordinary past but a troubled
present. It’s also a matter of respect. Just as we respect human rights, self-determination,
sovereignty and the environment, so we should place the protection of people’s heritage
on the world’s list of priorities.
Has the hostility of the village changed?
A lot. Right from the start we tried hard to regain their trust. We allowed about
6,000 people in the region to visit the site, for example. They could witness the
public and national importance of the dig, which was carried out exclusively by Peruvians
and whose discoveries belonged to the Peruvian nation–and not to a bunch of grave-robbers.
Are the local people happy with its effect on their lives?
There’s no way of course that the discovery will solve the economic crisis, but
we have managed to get the Lambayeque region on the tourist circuit. Local people
are getting their self-respect back and now feel proud of being descendants of the
Moche culture, which has generated such admiration around the world. National Geographic
has devoted reports to the site and foreign television stations from Japan, Australia,
the United States and Chile have filmed it. There are now colleges, universities,
restaurants and shops named after the Lord of Sipán. The name has entered
the language and enhanced the region’s identity. People have been able to see for
themselves the very positive effects of the discovery and the archaeological project
to save it.
How is work going on the new museum?
It’s more than a museum. We want to make it into a centre that can act as a magnet
for cultural, tourist and scientific development in the region. It should be open
by the end of this year. There’ll be 3,000 square metres of exhibits, incorporating
the latest innovations in museum presentation and situated on seven hectares of land
alongside laboratories and botanical gardens. We want it to be “the” Peruvian museum
of the millennium.
www.telefonica.com.pe/sipan/hallazgo.htm |
