シカン文化とは

「シカン」という名

「シカン」(シニャンもしくはシアン) とは、、植民地時代にペルー北海岸で記録された土着の言語・ムチクで「月（シ）の家もしくは神殿」を表す語である。それは場所を示す語であり、おそらくは今日のチクラヨ市の北北東、ラ・レチェ河谷中流域のポマ森林歴史保護区内に位置する先史時代の神殿（ワカ）もしくは神殿群を示しているのであろう。広大で乾燥したアルガロボの森の中に30に及ぶ大小さまざまなワカが散在するポマ地区は、歴史時代の初期には、古代の宗教偶像や財宝で知られていた。後に、シカン文化学術調査団（SAP）による20年に渡る調査の結果、これらの神殿のほとんどは1000年頃に土着の先史文化によって建設されたということが分かった。この文化（とその担い手たち）は、1983年にSAP団長・島田泉によって「シカン」と名付けられた。また中期シカン期にポマに興った神聖国家の首都にも、同じ名前が与えられている（以下を参照のこと）。

「シカン」と「シパン」

互いよく似た「シカン」と「シパン」は、これまで混同されることが多かったが、その考古学的意義の違いは顕著である。「シパン」とは、ランバイェケ河谷中流域、シカン遺跡から南東約42キロのところに位置する、現存するコミュニティと考古学遺跡をさす言葉である。シパン遺跡は長く複雑な歴史を持つにもかかわらず、シパンの近年の名声は、紀元3～4世紀のものと思われる北部モチェの"王墓"の発見に端を発するものである。しかしながら、その文化や社会についてはほとんど知られていない。

編年研究

本質的にシカンとは、モチェの政治的崩壊の後、紀元750～800年頃に（隣接したモトゥペ、ラ・レチェ、ランバイェケ、サーニャ谷から成る）ランバイェケ地域に興った考古学的文化である。南より侵入したチムー（チモール）王国によって1375年に滅ぼされるまで存続した。その地理的な側面から、最初にドイツ人考古学者のマックス・ウーレによって「エテン」、後にペルー人研究者のラファエル・ラルコによって「ランバイェケ」と呼ばれた。しかしながら、SAPによる集中的な長期野外調査プログラムの開始まで、われわれのシカン文化に関する理解は、主に盗掘された副葬品としての土器の美術様式と図像に限られていた。その文化史は、植民地時代の初期に記録されたナイムラップとその王朝に関する伝説を史実として仮定することによって再現された。伝説と考古学データにはいくらかの一致が見られるが、伝説が史実をどの程度忠実に反映しているかについては未だ議論の余地がある。

およそ600年続いたシカン文化は、層位発掘を通して記録された文化的変化と、100を越える炭素年代のキャリブレイションにもとづいて、三つの時期に区分される。初期、中期、後期シカンの三つは、それぞれ紀元800～900年、900～1100年、1100～1375年と測定されている。その後、シカンの人々がチムーとインカによる支配下に置かれた時期は、シカン＝チムーおよびシカン＝インカと呼ばれ、それぞれ紀元1375～1470年、1470～1532年の年代が与えられている。

初期シカン

遺物が少なく散り散りであると同時に、主要な遺跡が見付かっていないことから、初期シカンについてはまだあまりよく知られていない。シカンとその他いくつかの遺跡では、少量の初期シカンの土器片が中期シカンとモチェV期の層の間で見付かっている。それ以前および以降とは異なり、初期シカンは政治的に分裂した時期にあったようで、特に美術と宗教において、外部地域の影響が強く感じられる。

モチェV期に人気を博した磨き上げられた黒色土器は、初期シカンにおいても継続して製作され、中期シカン期には精製土器の仕上げの主な特徴となった。注口の基部に擬人化された鳥類の顔（パチャカマク美術に見られる神秘的なワシに似たもの）が象られた、環状取っ手付き単頸壺がそのよい例である。また、広く"海岸カハマルカ"と呼ばれる彩色された鉢や皿が中期カハマルカの様式に発想を得たのに対し、砂時計型および橋型双注口壺は中・南部海岸を通じてワリの影響があったことを反映している。

中期シカン

中期シカンはシカン文化の最盛期であり、その前後に比べて、より多くのことが明らかになっている。北海岸のほぼ全域に及ぶ政治的な優勢や経済的な結びつき、宗教的な威信によって他の時期と区別される。進展速度が速く、あらゆる文化変容を伴うことも中期シカンを特徴付ける。また、洗練された諸技術や、それらが作り出す建築や製品の質の高さもこの時期の特徴である。中期シカンの一大特徴の一つは、宗教的なモチーフを具象的な表現方法によって描いた、独特な美術様式にある。この中期シカン美術は、貴族らによって支持されたイデオロギーを広めるのに役立った。先行するワリやモチーカ文化のモチーフや形式、概念を取捨選択し、新しく構成し直したものであり、この統合こそが新興の中期シカン宗教に威信や正当性を与えたのであろう。中期シカン様式はかつて（傑出したワリ様式のあまり優れていない後継という意味で）「亜流」とみなされていたが、今日ではそれが極めて独特かつ革新的な美術様式であり、ペルーの海岸地域の広きに渡って大きな威信を保っていたことがわかっている。先行する他の北海岸の諸文化と同様、土器や金属製品においては彫刻的表現が依然として人気を博したのに対し、色数は最小限に抑えられた（1～3色） 。後期モチーカ美術を特徴付ける絵画構成は、壁画や彩色布、土器製作において踏襲された1。表現モチーフは種類が比較的少なく、正面もしくは側面から描かれた。

中期シカン美術をもっとよく象徴するのが、至る所で見られ、「仮面のような顔」と「先が上を向いた眼」を持つ“シカン神”の肖像である。この肖像はすべての美術表現メディアにおいて中心的な存在を担っていた。シカン神はしばしば伝説的な英雄＜ナインラップ＞と同一視されるが、むしろ先行するモチーカとワリの男性神の概念を融合したものであったようだ。モチーカ美術と同様、「先が上を向いた眼」はおそらくその人物の神話的な性格を表している。あるいは、初期シカンの「擬人化された鳥類の顔」の隆起した眼と、その（先が上を向いた）輪郭から進化したものかもしれない。実際、シカン神は翼や鉤形のくちばし、鉤爪といった鳥類の特徴とともに描かれることが多い。

The Deity was shown as omnipotent with power to control all the esteemed celestial forces fundamental to life and abundance. He is shown in daylight or under the night sky. In some cases he is depicted standing above the ocean, holding a tumi-knife on one hand and a trophy head on the other, and flanked by the sun and the moon. He is commonly shown with animals that are either nocturnal (e.g., foxes) or those that appear at the beginning of the summer when runoff from the adjacent highlands arrives on the coast (e.g., toads, bees, and iguanas). Tear drops shown under his eyes and the use of emerald to represent the pupil are likely to symbolize water crucial for agriculture. These features may also embody the belief in complementary oppositions, e.g., death-life.

Human representations are limited to those of the male elite personage called Sicán Lord and his entourage. The Lord seems identical to the Sicán Deity except that he is shown in a natural setting and possesses no avian features. The Lord probably was conceived as the earthly alter-ego of the Deity and/or of a divine origin.

The preeminence of the religious ideology and authority was already suggested by the ubiquitous representations of the Sicán Deity. It is also attested by the rapid and widespread distribution of the diagnostic ceramics bearing this icon and the sheer magnitude of labor and material investment in erecting dozens of monumental temples and other religious structures throughout its territory that extended to the Chicama to the south and Chira to the north. Sicán mounds represent a remarkable resurgence of the earlier North Coast tradition of monumental mound building following a hiatus of some 200 years. The Chimú kingdom based in southern north coast emphasized large walled enclosures instead of truncated pyramids.

The site of Sicán has a roughly T-shaped shape (ca. 1 km north-south and 1.6 km east-west) defined by a dozen monumental, multi-level platform mounds that either covered or were surrounded by numerous small and large tombs. Sicán was in essence a religious city. Some mounds were indeed monumental in size. For example, Huaca Rodillona measured 100 x 100 x 40 m high. All Sicán monumental mounds were built out of superimposed lattices of adobe chambers filled with refuse and/or other readily available materials. Before a new layer of the chambers was constructed, the extant layer was sealed with mud roof reinforced with wooden logs. This construction technique that first appeared on the North Coast during Moche V allowed a rapid erection of massive buildings while minimizing labor and material investment. At the same time, the technique required large-scale, unified construction with centrally pooled materials and labor force. In other words, the temple construction promoted centralization of political and religious power. Over 200 distinct marks documented thus far among Middle Sicán corporate structures are best understood as indicating patrons (perhaps competing with other patrons) donating materials and perhaps even labor towards the construction of public temples. It is akin to a practice found among Christian churches in Europe and Buddhist temples in Asia.

Mounds of Huaca Loro, El Moscón, Las Ventanas, La Merced, and Abejas surrounded the "Great Plaza," measuring ca. 500 m north-south and 250 m east-west. The Huaca El Corte and Las Ventanas mounds situated 1 km apart were perfectly aligned with each other along the east-west axis. Most of these mounds were built between ca. A.D. 900-1000. Though the modern course of the La Leche River separates the Huaca Loro and La Merced structures, originally they were connected to each other. At the time of a major flood that occurred sometime around A.D. 1050-1100, the river flow shifted from the southwesternly direction to the current course. The major Middle Sicán mounds in the Lambayeque region (e.g., Huaca Chotuna, Chornancap, La Luya, Sipán, and Taco) were all built close to a river or a major canal. Some of these mounds (e.g., El Corte and Taco) were relatively low and had a wide, short, central ramp, while others (e.g., Loro and Rodillona) were much higher and had a long, narrow, zig-zagging ramp and a walled-in enclosure at the top. The difference may reflect physical segregation of more visible, public ceremonies versus more private, exclusive rituals. Yet, both types of mounds had walls with polychrome murals showing religious icons, and impressive colonnades supporting solid roofs.

Much of the site of Sicán was destroyed by intense, systematic looting that spanned late 1920s to mid- 1970s and at times involved use of earth-moving machineries. What were preserved indicated that the temples were accompanied by craft workshops, storage facilities, plazas, and perhaps elite residences. The resident population of the capital is believed to have been relatively small, perhaps numbering a few thousands at most. Extensive residential settlements encircled the perimeter of the capital.

Middle Sicán artisans achieved sophisticated ceramic and metallurgical technologies. Generally large and utilitarian vessels (e.g., urns and ollas, globular cooking vessels) were made with "paddle and anvil" technique. Their ceramics were distinguished by the first widespread use of the paddled decoration ("paleteada"). Paddling not only strengthen and shape vessel walls, but also decorated the vessel exterior with representational or abstract designs. Miniature paddled designs of valued objects or icons such as the Sicán Deity, double-spout bottles, seated felines, tumi-knives, iguanas, and the sun are diagnostic Middle Sicán markers. Along with Sicán territorial expansion, the paleteada technique (primarily geometric designs) spread southward along the coast. Only geometric designs continued into the Late Sicán.

Generally small, fine vessels (e.g., single and double-spout bottles) were formed and decorated with one or more pairs of vertical press-molds. Vessels were fired in oval, semi-closed kilns at a temperature of ca. 700-900°C. Middle Sicán potters excelled in producing black ceramics that were fired in a reducing atmosphere, probably using dried llama dung as the carbon source. This firing technology, together with the prestige of the Middle Sicán religious art, seems to account for the rapid spread of the popularity of monochrome blackware along much of the coast, supplanting the earlier emphasis of polychromy that came with the northward Wari and Pachacamac expansions. The later Chimu culture inherited this preference for reduced ceramics.

One of the most important Middle Sicán legacies is its metallurgy. Though its gold alloy objects commonly attract public attention, what distinguished Middle Sicán metallurgy was its success in large scale smelting of arsenical copper or arsenical bronze. This alloy offered superior ductility (the ability of a material to be deformed without breaking), tensile strength (toughness), hardness (ability to work harden), and resistance to corrosion than pure copper. It was used to produce a wide variety of utilitarian items (e.g., knives, needles, and hoe blades) and permanently replaced pure copper as the metal of late prehispanic cultures of northern Peru. Its smelting required much labor and materials and was carried out in small pear-shaped furnaces with charcoal fuel and forced draft laboriously supplied by human lung power through blowtubes with ceramic tips. The smelting charge was prepared from locally available ore by crushing them with a large rocking stone (chungo) in a large, stable anvil stone called batán. Metal workshops have been located throughout the Lambayeque region and the large scale arsenical copper production served as a major driving force of Middle Sicán economy.

The Middle Sicán metallurgy was also distinguished by the unprecedented scale of precious metal production and use. Large gold ceremonial tumi-knives and masks that have been used as the national symbols of Peru and published in books on pre-Columbian civilizations are Middle Sicán objects looted from elite tombs (see below). What is commonly described as "gold" or "gold alloys" are essentially gold-silver-copper alloys ranging from ca. 1 to 21 karats. Those of less than 10 karats are called tumbaga. Precious metal objects became the standard bearers of Middle Sicán art and craftsmanship and ceramics emulated them. Following the North Coast tradition, Sicán goldsmithing emphasized sheetmetal working with stone hammers and anvils. Chasing-repoussé (embossing)2 and cut-out were the primary decorative techniques. To manufacture a wide variety of objects, Sicán goldsmiths produced a corresponding wide range of gold-silver-copper alloys with different mechanical properties and colors.

Use and accumulation of precious metal objects was prerogative of the social elite as with the preceding Mochica culture. Their use was quite diverse and included wrapping of ceramic vessels and backing of painted cloth that lined the interior of elite shafttombs. Overall, metals permeated all facets of the Sicán culture and served as social status markers. Access to different metals was clearly demarcated: The commoner had arsenical copper, lower elite arsenical copper and tumbaga, and upper nobility, all metals including high karat gold alloys.

Reflecting the marked social differentiation, economic productivity, and material wealth noted above, the Middle Sicán culture developed unique elite funerary customs. Commoners were buried with a handful of ceramic vessels and arsenical copper objects in simple, small, shallow pits often in their residences. In contrast, social elites were interred in deep shafttombs with wall niches, a planned distribution under and around monumental mounds, and impressive quantity of grave goods and/or number of accompanying bodies. The "East" and "West" tombs excavated at the north base of the Huaca Loro mound had vertical shafts 3 x 3 m and 10 x 6 m in dimensions and depths of ca. 11 m and 15 m, respectively.

The East Tomb illustrates the impressive material accumulation seen in the Middle Sicán elite tombs. It contained two adult females and two juveniles and ca. 1.2 tons of diverse grave goods placed on and around the inverted body of an adult male personage in full regalia placed at the center of the burial chamber. He wore a large 14-karat gold mask (46 x 29 cm and 677 g in weight) with its eyes made with amber and emerald beads. Some two-thirds of the grave goods, by weight, were arsenical copper, tumbaga, and high-karat gold alloy objects. One chest contained over 24 superimposed layers of some 60 major high karat gold, gold-silver, and tumbaga ornaments and ritual paraphernalia (e.g., rattles, crowns and their ornaments, and head bands). There were two piles each of Spondylus princeps and Conus fergusoni shells (total of 179 and 141, respectively). In addition, there were a gilt litter that was undoubtedly used to carry the central personage during his life and some 80 kg of beads made of amethyst, quartz, amber, turquoise, sodalite, and other minerals, as well as Spondylus shell.

The West Tomb contained much fewer precious metal objects but the centrally placed the male personage was accompanied by eight camelid heads, the articulated feet of at least 25 camelids, 9 rolls of cloth, and four tumbaga sheet-wrapped ceramic bottles and jars, among other items. He was also accompanied by 22 adult women and one male juvenile. DNA, dental, and artifact analyses as well as placement of the 22 women indicate that they represent two distinct social groups. Various lines of evidence suggest that the Middle Sicán elite may have integrated at least two distinct ethnic groups and practiced endogamy and patrilocality. The dental analysis also suggests that the principal personages of the East and West tombs were related. Results of recent ground-penetrating radar survey and associated test excavations suggest that the Huaca Loro mound was built over a series of orderly placed elite shafttombs. In other words, the mound and its temple at the top was not only a gigantic "tombstone" but also served as the focus of ancestor worship. Huaca Loro and other monumental mounds at the capital of Sicán as a whole was a dramatic symbol of the power, wealth and permanence of the Middle Sicán elite and their theocratic state that dominated much of the north coast.

Many items found in the elite tombs were exotic imports and as such attests to the presence of a long-distance trade network. The Middle Sicán elite not only intensified the earlier trade relationship between the coastal Ecuador and the north coast in ritual and status items, but they expanded its reach further north to Colombia and east to the Marañon drainage. To the south, it may have included the central coast and perhaps as far south as the Tiwanaku land in the South-Central Andes. The North Andes as a whole was the primary supplier of tropical seashells, emerald, and amber, and while the Marañon drainage provided placer-mined gold and perhaps bird feathers. This trade network was more extensive than any of pre-Sicán era. The establishment of this network went hand in hand with the rapid spread of the aforementioned, innovative technologies and the mold-made ceramics bearing Sicán religious ideology. In this regard, we are speaking of the establishment of a Middle Sicán "horizon.”

Regional and interregional economy and religion reinforced each other. Membership in the Middle Sicán religion assured access to status and ritual goods, while the Sicán state controlled their production, procurement and distribution. In other words, the theocratic state was underwritten by effective integration and control of regional and interregional economies whereby local products (e.g., arsenical copper) were traded for exotic ritual goods.

後期シカン

地方の一勢力からペルー北海岸を支配するまでに至る中期シカンの興隆は100年もかからなかった。恐らくその終焉はさらに急であり、宗教イデオロギーにおける著しい変化や、シカンから西へ5キロのところに位置するトゥクメ（エル・プルガトリオまたはトゥクメ・ビエホとも呼ばれる）への遷都を伴った。1020年あたりに起こった30年にもわたる長い旱魃の間もしくはその後に、シカン遺跡ではマウンド頂上の神殿やそのふもとにある関連建築が焼き打ちにあっている。これに対し、近隣する同時代の庶民の住居は燃やされていない。この焼き打ちの後に、神殿が修復されたり、再び使用された痕跡は無い。上に述べたような、支配者層によるぜいたくな祖先崇拝信仰や権力誇張は庶民には負担が大きく、底流に強い憤りを生んだのかもしれない。農業に悪影響を及ぼした旱魃は、庶民の許容範囲を上回り、現存の政治・宗教的指導体制の転覆を図る内部反乱へと発展したのである。その組織だった焼き打ちの直後には、大規模なエル・ニーニョによる洪水（紀元1050-1100年頃）がシカンのさらなるを崩壊もたらした。

シカンの崩壊と放棄に伴って、シカン美術には抜本的で、急激な変化が見られた。原則的にシカン神とシカン王が姿を消すのである。その一方で、それまでの土器形式（工芸作品、家庭内用土器ともに）や神話的なネコ科動物や魚、鳥のような二次的な偶像は生き残り、後期シカン美術を形成した。総じて、中期から後期シカンへの移行期に物質生活のほとんどの側面において何ら変化は生じなかった。

新しい神殿や関連建造物の建設は、1100～1150年頃、ラ・レチェおよびランバイェケ谷が交わる、後に後期シカンの首都となる場所ではじまった。トゥクメは、紀元1375年頃にチムーがランバイェケ地方を征服する時までその規模を拡大していき、密集した26の主要マウンドや囲い地によって形成されるに至った。それらの占有面積は220ヘクタール以上にも及ぶ。（この遺跡と後期シカン文化に関するさらなる詳細については「トゥクメ」の項を参照のこと。）

また、シカンの遺物には、チムーのものとして誤認されるという、根強く、かつ広く蔓延っている問題がある。この問題にはいくつかの原因が挙げられる：(1) トゥミナイフや仮面といった多くの有名なシカン黄金製品が適切な記録化作業なしに墓から違法に盗掘されたこと、(2) シカン文化が数十年前まで適切に研究されていなかったこと、そして (3) チムーの工芸家たちがシカン様式のモチーフやテーマを模倣し、復活させたことにある。事実、1375年頃にシカンを征服した後、チムーの支配者たちは熟練したシカンの陶芸家や金属細工師をチムーの首都であるチャンチャンへと強制移住させていたようである。したがって、彼らがチムーの君主たちのために作り出した品々には、シカンの様式的・技術的な「面影」が刻み込まれているのである。シカンとチムーの美術様式は、年代的にも地域的にも大きく区別すべきであり、同じ北海岸でも南北に隔てられた別の下位地域における文化的基盤の、より基本的な差異を反映していることを忘れてはならない。

脚注

1. E.g., Bonavia 1985; Carrion 1940; Donnan 1984; Florian 1951; Kosok 1965; Schaedel 1978; Shimada 1981a, b. [back]
2. A process in which a stone or metal tool with fine tip and a hammer are used to press recesses into a sheet for decorative purposes. Chasing refers to hitting from the exterior surface, while repoussé indicates hitting from the interior or underside. [back]

(Please see "Reccommended Readings" for details of references cited in the text above).