Chincha culture

[5] Between the 9th and 10th centuries, there was a shift in the lifestyle and culture of the coastal inhabitants, with different techniques and styles appearing at the shore region.

In the 11th century, the sophisticated and warlike culture known as the Chincha began, possibly the product of a migratory wave from the highlands.

The Chincha worshiped an ocelot or jaguar god, and believed themselves to be descended from felines, who gave them their warlike and dominating tendencies.

The Chincha merchants maintained trade routes by land with herds of camelids used as beasts of burden reaching the Collao (Altiplano) and Cusco.

The site covers more than 75 hectares (190 acres) and consists of two large pyramids, La Centinela and Tambo de Mora, constructed of adobe and serving as the habitations of the leaders of the Chincha people.

A network of roads radiated out from La Centinela, running in straight lines, as was the Andean custom.

The larger than normal number of fishermen and traders in the population illustrates the commercial nature of the Chincha state and the importance of the sea to their economy.

Pedro Cieza de León described Chincha as a "great province, esteemed in ancient times...splendid and grand...so famous throughout Peru as to be feared by many natives."

The Chinchas were expanding up and down the coast of Peru and into the Andes highlands at about the same time the Incas were creating their empire in the 14th and 15th centuries.

[12] Voyages via balsa raft up and down the Pacific coast from southern Colombia to northern Chile, possibly as far as Mexico, were a long-standing practice, the trade largely being in luxury items such as worked gold and silver and ritually-important Spondylus and Strombus seashells.

[13] Some authorities have asserted that the Chincha gained influence and control over much of this maritime trade only late in the fifteenth century.

[14] The source of both the balsa logs for rafts and the Spondylus and Strombus seashells was in Ecuador, 1,400 kilometres (870 miles) to the north, thus strengthening the view that the Chincha had an extensive reach to their trading activities.

With the arrival of the Spaniards, the population of Chincha declined precipitously, mostly due to European diseases and political turmoil.