[From the Original 1927 Catalog] There is some connection between the ancient reservoir called El Mapuesto and Chan Chan. Some two kilometers to the west of EL Mapuesto, on the left hand side of the railway running into the Valley of Chicama are found the remains of the canal which must have carried water. At first nothing definite is seen, only low mounds of earth winding in and out. The body of the trench is cut off. Presently the canal becomes straight and behind it and running parallel with it is a half ruined wall. From the canal branch out smaller ditches running in a straight line towards Chan Chan. The canal divides into three broad ditches within a distance of one kilometer. That portion which bears more to the northeast is guarded by the great wall which continues in the shape of half of an obtuse angle until it ends at the Rio Seco. The last bit of wall ends with a narrow covered passage the walls of which are covered in stonework. Within this zone are also great rocky walled works: the interior walls are faced with stone as though they had several reservoirs. That part remaining between the last outwork of stone and the Rio Seco shows visible traces of ancient furrows.
P08830-P08841, N36317
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Collection Citation:
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Major Otto Holstein photographs from Chan Chan, Peru, Item Number; National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center, Smithsonian Institution.
