Last month, I went to Chiclayo, Peru with my classmates. It was a lovely visit and we learned many things from the ancient cultures that inhabited that area over a millennium ago. Some of these cultures are the Sicán or Lambayeque culture and the Mochica culture.
One of the most interesting things we did was take a course on archaeology, in a place called Tucume, where there were ancient pyramids built by the Mochica culture. In the archaeology course, we learned about the process of digging and searching for objects from ancient cultures. Part of it included restoration and conservation of these objects. We had to restore an ancient Chavin wall that was covered with mud due to the heavy rain that had attacked the wall for centuries. We started by removing the dust and the mud, and then we cleaned it with humid cotton, so that the old colours could be seen. In the end we had a restored wall with its ancient appearance almost 100% back.
We also visited many museums in Chiclayo, many of them which exhibited real ornaments and textiles worn by these ancient civilizations. There were many mummies as well, most covered in gold, which indicated the rank. One of the most prominent figures we saw was the so-called Senor de Sipan, who was covered almost entirely in gold and silver. Modern archaeologists believe that he was one of the most revered leaders of his culture.
