The north coast was fated to experience two conquests within sixty years, first by the Incas, then by the Spaniards. The Incas conquered the north coast at ca. AD 1470 (Rowe 1948). The Chimu resisted under the leadership of Chimo Capac but were defeated on the battlefield (Cabello Balboa 1951 [1586]: 317-319). Chimu administrative structure was dismantled, retaining only lower level lordships (senorios) under Inca rule (Ramirez 1990: 519-525), albeit with some reorganization (e. g., Netherly 1990: 465-467). A Chimu rebellion and the execution of its leader (Zarate 1944 [1555]: 46) ended organized resistance. It appears that Chan Chan was not occupied by the Incas, but instead an intrusive regional center was constructed at Chiquitoy Viejo on the road leading from Chan Chan to the Chi-cama Valley (Moseley 1990: 10), and the major Inca establishment was constructed in the highland Cajamarca Valley.
The Inca presence on the north coast now appears to be have been greater than previously thought (Mackey in press). At Farfan, the Incas added more storage space to the site and increased its administrative significance (Mackey 2004; Mackey and Jaurequi 2004). Portions of Manchan were remodeled by the Incas, and labor invested in new construction at Tucume was probably greater under the Incas than during the Chimu reign. The Incas made Tucume their regional center in the Lambayeque (Heyerdahl et al. 1995: 193-194), while also establishing or co-opting additional smaller administrative centers, particularly along the coastal road (Hayashida 1999; cf. Hyslop 1984: 53-54).
Elements of Chimu culture were incorporated into and in some cases sustained by Inca rule on the north coast. The production of fine textiles and ceramics continued to employ earlier techniques and motifs. Hayashida’s (1995, 1999) analyses of Inca ceramics from the La Leche Valley indicate that not only utilitarian pottery but also pressmold fine ceramics were manufactured under Inca auspices, a pattern also seen in ceramic evidence from the Jequetepeque Valley (Mackey 2005). Ironically, Chimu style textiles and ceramics may have been more broadly distributed by the Incas than by the rulers of Chimor. This probably reflects the Inca strategy of rule and the continued prestige of Chimu culture, particularly for coastal elites previously incorporated into the Chimu Empire.
World History
