This bulwark , known as the Muralla La Cumbre , was previously thought to have protect of import tilth from invaders , but new research suggest it actually prevented El Niño floods from wreak mayhem .
The ancient earthen paries is about 10 kilometers ( 6 miles ) long and is located in the desert near Trujillo , in northerly Peru . It was built near to where the Das Kapital metropolis of Chan Chan used to be . This metropolis belonged to theChimú people(otherwise cognise as the Kingdom of Chimor ) who lived along the seashore of northern Peru from around the 9thto the 15thcentury CE .
Many of us have heard about the dissimilar pre - Columbian people of South and Central America , such as theMaya , the Incas , and theAztecs , but the Chimú are often overlooked .
El Niño left distinct evidence of flood sediment on the eastern side of the ancient wall.Image credit: Gabriel Prieto/Huanchaco Archaeological Project
During its 24-hour interval , this civilization was the largest and most well-heeled culture in the part and occupied a 1,000 - kilometer ( 621 - land mile ) stretch of coastline that extend into an area of today ’s northerly Chile . Despite their import , the Chimú were finally conquered by the Incas , with whom they had long - tolerate hostility .
Until recently , it was conceive that Muralla La Cumbre was construct as a outcome of these hostilities . It was thought to serve as a roadblock to protect the Chimú from intrusion .
“ According to several accounts write in Colonial times , the descendants of the Inca magnanimousness and the Chimú nobility recite the Spanish that both Incas and Chimú had a longsighted lasting war between CE 1400 - 1450 ” , Gabriel Prieto , Assistant Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Florida told IFLScience . “ The wall [ near ] Chan Chan is then deliberate part of the justificatory strategy to protect themselves from Inca raid . ”
However , Prieto has found evidence that Muralla La Cumbre really protect the area from the devastating floodwaters that appeared in Peru ’s wet phase angle , fuck asEl Niño .
An El Niño pass off when sea temperatures in the tropic easterly Pacific rise 0.5 ° C ( 0.9 ° F ) above normal , resulting in tender than medium conditions . These effect tend to occur every few years and peak in December . The term mean “ the boy ” , and is conceive to have make out from " El Niño de Navidad " several 100 ago when Peruvian fishermen described the weather in reference to the new-sprung Christ at Christmas .
In some parts of the worldly concern , El Niño brings drought , but in Ecuador and northern Peru it result in hard rain . These piddle would have been a meaning threat to local communities in the past , specially to the Chimú .
During his inquiry on Muralla La Cumbre , Prieto discover stratum of flood sediment on one side of the bulwark , the easterly side , which evoke it was built to protect the ploughland to the west .
“ I screen an old hypothesis proposed in 2003 by two Peruvian archaeologists : Victor Piminchumo and César Gálvez , ” Prieto distinguish IFLScience . “ In 2021 , I got fund to dig out it , opt a segment of the bulwark crossing one of the dry ravines and it was very fortunate to find the sediments on the east side . ”
fit in to results from radiocarbon dating , the lower parts of the paries may have been built around 1100 as a result of El Niño floods .
Prieto ’s analysis also found that one of the sedimentary layers date to around 1450 , which coincides with grounds of amass sacrificeof around 140 children and 200 llama , which occurred at another Chimú site . For Prieto , this could be a sign that the Chimú knew the dangers posed by the El Niño inundation , which make their rulers to make sacrifice to conciliate their graven image .
This inquiry is significant on several level , Prieto explained to IFLScience . “ It shows that the Chimú , apart from please their gods with human and animal ritual killing , they also made technical and effective infrastructure to cope with the negative burden of [ El Niño ] . They also created a sort of dekametre continue the sediments and rich silt that were possibly used to inseminate agricultural field . ”
It seems the Chimú were far more advanced in damage of their technologies than is often appreciate , specially in relative to their “ hydraulic infrastructure ” , which helped them cope with vivid mood anomalousness like those triggered by El Niño . This is “ something that modern nations like Peru are still hurt for not pay enough care to bare technology with effective results , ” Prieto added .
A paper detailing Prieto ’s research has been accepted for publication and will be published soon .
