Archaeological Heritage and safeguerd of local traditions: the totora eco-museum at Chan Chan, Perù

Perhaps it is still possible, before it will be cancelled forever, to keep alive traditional practices of fishing, agricultural cultivation and handicraft related to the daily life in Chan Chan, the ancient capital of the Chimu Empire, that between the years 400 and 1470 extended over much of the northern coast of Peru. As shown on the bas-reliefs of its palaces and huacas, the means of sustenance of the town were related to agriculture and fishing, two large production systems that can be symbolized by the totora reed. The totora is a typical product of the northern coast of Peru, whose cultivation is carried out in specific wetlands called huachaques or totorales. Its use is an expression of the living culture of the local community which materializes in the construction of traditional boats (caballito de totora), of traditional houses (casas de tapa) and traditional handicrafts (mats, baskets) denoting continuity in the knowledge of the ancestral technology and contributing, in this way, to the regional and national identity that form part of the intangible cultural heritage. Due to several concomitant factors, the cultivation of totora is in sharp decline. The lack of raw material together with the abandonment of the traditional techniques of construction and the absence of connection with the tourist activity has almost cancelled the local crafts. Finally, the uncontrolled urban development of the nearby town of Trujillo seems to undermine the survival of the ecological areas of the coastal environment (totorales) whose absence causes coastal erosion and building activity. Fortunately there seem to be strong possibilities and instruments to invert the trend with the involvement of the local population: starting from the Chan Chan archaeological complex, the fishing village of Huanchaco (home of international surfing) and the fishing with caballito, it is possible to set a program of revaluation and preservation of traditional practices, handicraft and related economic aspects. The program foresees the realization of an eco-museum of the totora by restoring the huachaques of Chan Chan and the totorales of Huanchaco and by the creation of an "Interpretation Center", a place of meeting and discussion of the local community, handicraft training laboratory cultural and educational centre. An eco-museum of the totora, mainly based on the involvement and participation of the local community, is the solution to preserve a peculiar example of living and working, with the result of a strengthening of the tourist vocation in the area and with a direct socio-economic advantage for the population historically and culturally linked to the archaeological complex of Chan Chan.