Changes and continuities in Lambayeque as a result of the Chimú conquest and administration: a demographic approach from the valley of La Leche

Abstract

The Lambayeque region was the center of the state of Lambayeque (also known as Sicán), which developed on the northern coast and was later conquered by the Chimú empire. This article presents evidence in relation to the changes and continuities of demographic trajectories that occurred before, during, and after the Chimú period in the middle valley of La Leche, with special emphasis on the changes that occurred in the Sicán settlement. These demographic patterns and their changes and continuities are contextualized in relation to other regional studies of settlement patterns and demographic evidence of the valley and the region, in order to evaluate the political and social impacts of the different imperial strategies of Chimú and Chimú-Inca conquest and presence in the area.

The demographic trajectories of the local populations at the Sicán site show that there were 8 demographic districts, and that they represent the permanence and importance of the local social organization before and after the Chimú Chimú-Inca conquest and occupation of the site. The local response to the important socio-political changes caused by foreign empires such as the Chimú and the Inca, shows the continuity and resilience of local social groups that endure and even grow, despite the rise and fall of imperial external political regimes.