page_title: Chancay District, Huaral
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Chancay District, Huaral / History
caption_attribution_description: English: The Chancay art style dominated Peru's Central Coast during the Late Intermediate Period, although there was no centralized, overarching state authority ruling the region. Textiles and pottery were the primary artistic media, the former being among the most colorful, visually complex, and technically excellent weavings ever produced in Peru. Chancay pottery, on the other hand, is often rather casually or carelessly painted, its slip characterized by a matte surface finish and a palette restricted to white and black (with the infrequent addition of red or beige). The low-fired Chancay ceramics make them susceptible to surface damage, unlike the earlier pottery of the Moche, Nasca, and Waricultures. On the other hand, Chancay painting can be as lively as that of any Andean tradition. The acute difference in quality between Chancay ceramics and textiles reflects sociopolitical divisions in Chancay culture. Burial patterns indicate that the painted ceramics were consumed by all levels of Chancay society, whereas fine textiles and precious metal objects were restricted to members of higher status. As elsewhere in the Andean world, artistic quality and materials conveyed messages of hierarchy and power. This tall, narrow vessel features the frontal rendering of a male figure. He grasps a puma-headed staff in each hand, and two serpent-headed rays emanate from his head. These pan-Andean features link the figure to traditional depictions of supernatural beings or deities and shamans. The bird painted at the top of the vessel reflects this theme in its crescent-shaped head adornment, which distinguishes the "Sic&#225;n Deity" or "Sic&#225;n Lord," who may be a culture hero or a deity among cultures to the north. The "Sic&#225;n Lord" is associated primarily with the Sic&#225;n and later Chim&#250; societies of the North Coast, although the Chim&#250; extended their influence over the Chancay people at the end of the Late Intermediate Period. It is not improbable that this symbol of divinity and/or sacred ancestry was adopted by the Chancay. The painter of this tall vessel animated the scene by filling the background with black avian footprints, which, at the least, lend motion to the bird if not implying its ritual performance.
context_page_description: Chancay District is one of twelve districts of the province Huaral in Peru.
context_section_description: In the pre-Columbian Chancay culture ruled over the valleys of Chancay and Huaura. The mummies found from the Ancon and Zepita necropolis have evidence that this culture expanded far north up to the Chillón valley. The Chancay culture took place between 1300 and 1450 A.D and after that became part of the Inca empire.
  Chancay was founded by Luis Flores, according to the viceroy Diego López de Zúñiga, 4th Count of Nieva, on November 16, 1562. By then its name was Villa de Arnedo in memory of the fee he had in Spain.
  Although it was a "Spanish town", according to the 1792 census, the town had a total of 2960 people but only 369 were Spanish. Most of them were slaves and Indians.
  By the time of Peru's independence, the April 16, 1828 law was created by the people of Chancay, and that made the town a "faithful town"
  In 1966, a 6.2 magnitude earthquake caused great damage in the north of Chancay and part of the Lima-Callao area. 30 people died in Chancay and 4,000 homes were destroyed, in the Lima-Callao area 100 people died because of the tsunami and  homes collapsed there, trapping the people inside them.
caption: Pottery of the Chancay culture
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