11. THE CULTURE PERIODS OF PERUVIAN ART. 



Before proceeding to a detailed analysis or to any endeavor 

 to coordinate the various cultures, it will be best for us to state 

 as briefly as possible what the periods of culture are and where 

 each is found at its highest development. Appendix II shows 

 their chronological position with respect to one another, and the 

 accompanying map shows the location of the chief sites connected 

 with each of the cultures. It remains for us to summarize the 

 outstanding features of the various types. 



I. THE PROTO-CHIMU AND PROTO-NASCA CULTURES. 



One may conveniently distinguish between the two subdivi- 

 sions of this earliest coast culture-period by remembering that 

 the Proto-Chimu flourished all along the northern half of the 

 Peruvian littoral and the Proto-Nasca along the southern half.^ 

 This subdivision is arbitrary, being based on the form of arts 

 prevailing in the two regionsj It is not a wholly satisfactory 

 classification, and it may ultimately have to be modified. For 

 example, it may sometime become desirable to delimit at Pachaca- 

 mac a style which should be called "Proto-Pachacamac." Our 

 information is, however, too scanty to justify such a course as 

 yet, and it is better for the present to rely upon the classification 

 here offered, which does preserve and emphasize the main lines 

 of differentiation between the major varieties of the earliest 

 coast art. 



The art of the region around Chan Chan and Moche^ in the 

 modern department of Libertad is characterized by features that 



^ The terms "Proto-Chimu" and "Proto-Nasca" were adopted by 

 Dr. Uhle after he discovered that the objects belonging to them did not 

 belong to the Chimu and Nasca cultures. The name by which the early 

 but highly gifted people called themselves is unknown. 



^ Here again, the nomenclature must be commented upon. The two 

 places just named are near Trujillo and they are the chief sites for Proto- 

 Chimu ware. The name Chimu is used for the same sites at a later period, 

 when the Chimu culture was flourishing. Chimu is derived from the 

 Mochica place-name Chimorr or Chamorr ; Moche is the Hispanicised 

 form for Muchik; Chiclayo was formerly Chajaep; Lambayeque is 

 derived from Nampajek. Cf. Middendorf, 1892, p. 64. 



