What was Chimú and when was Chimú?: rethinking chronology, material signatures of Chimú rule, and Chimu imperialism in the Jequetepeque valley

Resumen

One challenge in reconstructing Chimú rule in the Jequetepeque is that we observe many continuities in agricultural landscapes, settlement patterns, domestic ceramics, and rural or peripheral sites across Lambayeque, Chimú, and Chimú-Inca periods. Public administrative architecture based on rectangular compounds, canal and field infrastructure, mold-made blackware ceramics, and utilitarian ceramic assemblages featuring paleteada ceramics, bowls, and carinated ollas persisted in some form throughout the Late Intermediate and Late Horizon periods. This article represents an attempt to be more precise about the nature and timing of Chimú conquest by identifying archaeological markers of Chimú administration in the Jequetepeque valley, using data from Pedregal, Ventanillas, and other published sites to link calibrated radiocarbon dates with excavation data, with the goal of considering the process of Chimú imperial expansion in a regional context. While traditional models for the timing of Chimú conquest are upheld by recent dates, variability both within the Jequetepeque and across the northern provinces suggests that Chimú expansion was likely territorially discontiguous and occurred in multiple stages.