Editors' Note: UNDER THE LAYERS

 

 

 

 

Dear Readers,
In more than one occasion we have mentioned the wonderful diversity of flora and fauna species in our country, as well as the amazing quantity of archaeological vestiges along the Peruvian territory. But it is easy to let yourself attract by the majesty of Machu Picchu or the Nasca Lines, or the solemnity of the Andean condor or the cock of the rocks. But let's look a little further; uncover the layers to found the lost "huacas" dispersed through the Lima's neighborhoods or under the foundation of the capital's churches. Let's zoom into the forest to found the hummingbirds waving their wings more than fifty times per second.
Come with us and check fiber by fiber the complex textile works from Peru and take a look to every mark time left over the walls of Chan Chan, the largest mud city of America.
The important things are always on the details. There are millions of details in Peru.
Regards,
Jose and Cynthia
 
 
Main Article: IN CALMER TIMES, LIMA BEFORE PIZARRO
The river Rimac has witnessed the development of a number of cultures in the are now covered by Lima, where the huacas continue to reveal a pre-Columbian history which -to a greater or lesser extent - survives the battering or modernzation.
When the millions of inhabitants currently crowded into the Peruvian Capital speak of their history they confine themselves to the Vice-regal period. One or two may occasionally recall Pizarro and his decision to found a city far from the incas "center of the universe" (Cusco) and fewer still will point out that Nicolas de Ribera el Viejo was the city's first mayor, but it is likely that not many will accept that there was a pre-Hispanic city here.
Read the complete article...
 
 
Second Article: HUMMINGBIRDS
Los colibríes son las joyas del mundo de las aves, pues por ser pequeños y de colores brillantes, parecen gemas con alas. Los colibríes son una exclusividad de las Américas y existen en total 328 especies descritas, lo que los convierte en la familia de aves más diversa. En el Perú ocurre 127 especies (39% del total de colibríes) y de ellos 44 habitan en Alto Mayo (en la selva nor-oriental del Perú). Se distribuyen en todos los hábitats de esta región, desde las alturas de los bosques montanos, hasta los humedales de Tingada, incluso pueden encontrarse en zonas pobladas y en áreas agrícolas.
El vuelo de los colibríes es el más elegante y preciso de las aves y además son capaces de volar hacia atrás. Son las únicas aves capaces de generar sustentación al moverlas hacia arriba como abajo (las demás aves sólo generan sustentación al moverlas hacia abajo), gracias a que pueden batirlas entre 10 y 80 veces por segundo en los vuelos de cortejo. En sus vuelos se han registrado marcas de hasta 150 km por hora.
Read the complete article
 
 
Archaeologic: THE MAGICAL UNIVERSE OF CHAN CHAN
It is difficult to see it from the modest vantage point rising a few yards above the walls of the city that was the capital of the kingdom of Chimor. The buildings and their adjacent spaces cover nearly five thousand acres, fifteen hundred of which make up the nucleus of the monument which archaeologists have divided into twelve "citadels" or architectural complexes.
It is not a striking view at first because the absence of roofs and the absence of roofs and the faded color of the buildings conceal their past beauty. Upon the adobe walls of the city, its builders applied a first layer of mud and sand which they covered with another, much finer layer, sieved through cloth before being applied and then finished with a substance that made it shine or pigments that made Chan Chan a city of colors.
Read the complete article...
 
 
Peruvian Art: TEXTILES
Modern peruvian weavers are heirs to a lo-running pre-hispanic tradition that was developed across the length and breadth of Peru. Outstanding work includes the Paracas funeral shrouds and Inca and Ayacucho Wari weavings. The oldest textiles ever found were uncovered at the pre-Colombian temple of Huaca Prieta in the Chicama valley, and are believe to date back 4,000 years.
Preferred materials -which are still use today- include brown and white cotton; vicuña, alpaca and llama wool. Other materials occasionally include human hair and bat fibers, and more commonly, gold and silver thread. In addition, natural dyes, while the vertical loom and pedal loom are still the most commonly used tool for weaving blankets and yards of cloth.
Key weaving departments include Ayacucho, Puno, Cusco, Junín, Apurímac and Lima. Cusco decorative work often features the tika, representing the potatoe flower, and the sojta, a geometric design symbolizing the sowing season. Cusco weavers produce a wide variety of chullos (woolen caps with earflaps), woolen coca leaf pouches, blankets featuring geometric patterns, cummerbunds and chumpis weaved by the meter, like the ones sold at the Sicuani market, or in the Sunday market at Pisac. Ayacucho is another major textile center, as it is a region where over the past few decades artisans have gained a following for their tapestries of weft and warp with abstract motifs.
Read the complete article...