Sicán (Lambayeque) Culture

Timeline

1. c. 900–1100Batán Grande (Sicán ceremonial center) · LambayequeCentered on the multiple adobe platform temples of Batán Grande, Middle Sicán developed metal masks, tumi knives, and gold-silver-copper alloy work marked by the 'Sicán deity,' and controlled the north coast and long-distance exchange. Noble tombs yielded large quantities of gold objects, making this culture one of the high points of Andean metallurgical history.
2. c. 1100–1150Túcume · LambayequeAround 1100 the temples of Batán Grande were systematically burned and abandoned, interrupting the Middle Sicán face-image tradition. The ruling group built Túcume at the confluence of the La Leche and Lambayeque rivers, opening the Late Sicán period. 1100–1150 was precisely this political-religious reorganization period.
3. c. 1150–1375Túcume · LambayequeTúcume developed into a large ceremonial-political center with over twenty adobe platforms. Around 1375 Chimú expanded northward and conquered Lambayeque, ending Sicán as an independent polity, though its metallurgical and ritual traditions were absorbed; it should not be conflated with the Chimú culture of Chan Chan.