The Forerunners of the Inca. Chimú Culture | History - Planet Doc Full Documentaries

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▶ Documentary "The Forerunners of the Inca" http://pdoc.es/ForeIncas

The majority of the coast of Peru is dry desert land. Nonetheless, this inhospitable land was the birth place of great civilisations, . this is the case of the Chimú culture who constructed irrigation channels, and created gardens in the desert. With their advanced techniques, they developed agricultural societies capable of supporting large numbers of inhabitants. The Chimú culture built cities like this one, Chanchán, perhaps the largest city in the world at the time, with around 100,000 inhabitants.
It covers an area of 20 square kilometres, and is composed of nine distinct areas, separated by trapezoidal walls from six to nine metres high. Each one corresponded to a different Chimu monarch.
Around the ceremonial altars, the walls were decorated with bas-reliefs which represented fishing nets. Chanchán lived in close contact with the sea. Fishing was a major part of the daily lives of its inhabitants. It was a very hierarchical society. Power was held by the Great Chimú. The Chimú worshipped the moon and the sun, as well as the mummies of their monarchs, which they would remove from their tombs on special occasions. The masks with blind eyes were funeral masks, and were placed on the faces of the mummies.

Their pottery has also provided many valuable clues about the daily lives of the Chimú. It is decorated with depictions of many of their habits and customs like this pot, which shows a fisherman with his “cattail horse”.

Still today, the fishermen along the coast of northern Peru use these boats, called “cattail horses”, to work the fishing grounds close to the shore. The cattail is a type of reed or bulrush which grows in the marshlands. Once it is cut and dried in the sun, it becomes tough and flexible, very resistant, and waterproof. At dawn, the fishermen set out to sea, expertly maintaining their balance as they ride the waves, using the most ancient of all surfing techniques.

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