The city of ChanChan, about 500 km north of Lima, is part of the Chimù culture, one of the great civilizations flourished in the valleys and along the northern coast of Peru during the first centuries of our era. The area, covering a surface of more than 14 sq km, is entirely made of adobe and, consequently, subject to numerous serious factors of decay: besides the damage caused by the Conquistadores and by the grave-robbers, Chan Chan's structures made in adobe have been heavily corroded by the sea salts, and the imposing brickworks have been partially destroyed by the torrential rain due to the phenomenon of Niño. Therefore, in this framework, it is fundamental to have a correct and updated documentation about the structures' conditions to be able to proceed with an effective and specifically aimed restoration. In close cooperation with the Instituto Nacional de Cultura - La Libertad, (INC-LL, Trujillo, Peru) and with the International Centre of Conservation, Rome (ICCROM, Rome, Italy), and in accordance with the guidelines supplied by the "Plan Maestro de Conservacion y Manejo del Complejo Arqueologico Chan Chan" (approved with Supreme Decree of the President of the Republic of Peru, in January 2000), an intervention strategy was worked out. Using modern topographic procedures and information technologies (GIS - Geographic Information System), it should allow us to face, step by step, the study, the management and the fruition of an Archaeological Area of such dimensions. The project's main goal, then, is to create, on an illustrative case study of Chan Chan's architecture, an operative model which foresees the execution and relevant computerization of all documentation, research and intervention phases and their interrelation. It was agreed to make this experimentation on the Palacio Rivero which extends on a surface of 70,000 sq metres near the Tshudi Palace, the only one already restored and open to the public. The first phase of the project provided for the realization of a survey of the palace which would supply a documentary evidence of the real conditions of the ruins. The survey of the emerging and still clearly locatable structures, such as the boundary walls of the external corridors, the enclosures' walls, etc., was carried out with an Electronic Total Station, while that of the emerging structures not clearly readable because of decay processes (the Audencias' internal structures, the warehouses' and graves' structures, etc.) was carried out on a contour lines basis by means of GPS (Global Positioning System) equipment, used in kinematical modality. The representation of the spaces on a contour lines basis and the additional underlining of the emerging structures by means of appropriate methods, such as the creation of a tridimensional model of the terrain (Digital Terrain Model - DTM) or the analysis with false colours, made it possible to obtain a clear location of the buried brickworks that will guide with a higher precision both the delicate archaeological investigation on the adobe areas and the preservation and restoration interventions.
New Technologies for the conservation of the Archaeological Park of Chan Chan
Colosi F;
2004
Abstract
The city of ChanChan, about 500 km north of Lima, is part of the Chimù culture, one of the great civilizations flourished in the valleys and along the northern coast of Peru during the first centuries of our era. The area, covering a surface of more than 14 sq km, is entirely made of adobe and, consequently, subject to numerous serious factors of decay: besides the damage caused by the Conquistadores and by the grave-robbers, Chan Chan's structures made in adobe have been heavily corroded by the sea salts, and the imposing brickworks have been partially destroyed by the torrential rain due to the phenomenon of Niño. Therefore, in this framework, it is fundamental to have a correct and updated documentation about the structures' conditions to be able to proceed with an effective and specifically aimed restoration. In close cooperation with the Instituto Nacional de Cultura - La Libertad, (INC-LL, Trujillo, Peru) and with the International Centre of Conservation, Rome (ICCROM, Rome, Italy), and in accordance with the guidelines supplied by the "Plan Maestro de Conservacion y Manejo del Complejo Arqueologico Chan Chan" (approved with Supreme Decree of the President of the Republic of Peru, in January 2000), an intervention strategy was worked out. Using modern topographic procedures and information technologies (GIS - Geographic Information System), it should allow us to face, step by step, the study, the management and the fruition of an Archaeological Area of such dimensions. The project's main goal, then, is to create, on an illustrative case study of Chan Chan's architecture, an operative model which foresees the execution and relevant computerization of all documentation, research and intervention phases and their interrelation. It was agreed to make this experimentation on the Palacio Rivero which extends on a surface of 70,000 sq metres near the Tshudi Palace, the only one already restored and open to the public. The first phase of the project provided for the realization of a survey of the palace which would supply a documentary evidence of the real conditions of the ruins. The survey of the emerging and still clearly locatable structures, such as the boundary walls of the external corridors, the enclosures' walls, etc., was carried out with an Electronic Total Station, while that of the emerging structures not clearly readable because of decay processes (the Audencias' internal structures, the warehouses' and graves' structures, etc.) was carried out on a contour lines basis by means of GPS (Global Positioning System) equipment, used in kinematical modality. The representation of the spaces on a contour lines basis and the additional underlining of the emerging structures by means of appropriate methods, such as the creation of a tridimensional model of the terrain (Digital Terrain Model - DTM) or the analysis with false colours, made it possible to obtain a clear location of the buried brickworks that will guide with a higher precision both the delicate archaeological investigation on the adobe areas and the preservation and restoration interventions.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
