The Deposits and the Storage Areas in the Urbe Chimu: Chan Chan, Trujillo, Peru

Correa-Trigoso D.E. · SPAL (2021) · DOI: 10.12795/spal.2021.i30.12

Resumen

The storage areas are recurrent in all the Chan Chan palaces, being the deposits the most important structures in the protection of resources. Through the results obtained in the archaeological investigations in the Chayhuac, Uhle, Bandelier, Gran Chimú, Tschudi and Rivero palaces, it is possible to know the different sizes and types of the deposits. The type of storage depended on the nature of the object, whether or not containers were used for this purpose, but the storage of grains, such as beans, peanuts and corn, was possibly a priority, the latter being a fundamental part of the diet and the raw material for the elaboration of chicha. The warehouses in the capital Chimú were able to store many objects inside (the largest has 27,09 m2 and 22.76 m3), with the Uhle palace being the one with the highest storage capacity (1852.68 m2 and 1671.50 m3). This entire collection organization was organized from control points called "audiencias"and its preponderance within the palaces was associated with access to resources during the performance of political activities in the city, being possible to recognize the administrative policies that existed during the construction of the Uhle and Bandelier palaces.