Site · Peru
Sipán
Moche, 100–700 CE
Sipán is the richest undisturbed tomb group ever excavated in the Americas and transformed understanding of Moche rulership, since the Lord's regalia matched the Sacrifice Ceremony painted on Moche pottery. The discovery followed a police raid on looters and remains the exemplar of the conflict between huaqueros and archaeology on Peru's north coast.
| Country | Peru |
|---|---|
| Dates | 100–700 CE |
| Status | Archaeological site and site museum; the Royal Tombs museum is in Lambayeque |
| Managed by | Ministerio de Cultura del Perú (Museo Tumbas Reales de Sipán and Museo de Sitio Huaca Rajada-Sipán) |
| Access | The Huaca Rajada platform with replica tombs and a site museum is open daily near Chiclayo; the original finds are displayed in the Royal Tombs of Sipán Museum in Lambayeque. |
| Coordinates | -6.798, -79.6 (public site) |
What was found
Walter Alva's excavations from 1987, begun after looters broke into the platform, uncovered the intact tomb of the Lord of Sipán with gold and silver headdresses, ear spools, pectorals, a gilded copper rattle and sacrificed retainers, followed by the Old Lord and the Priest tombs; over a dozen elite Moche burials have now been recorded.
Rules
Nothing may be collected; Peru's Law 28296 on the National Cultural Heritage makes all pre-Columbian material national property and the US–Peru agreement under the CPIA bars import of undocumented material. This article is for study and context only and is not a collecting locality.
Elsewhere
Cite this article
Stratum Study. "Sipán" (Site). Stratum Study pack 2026.09, as of 2026-09-21. https://stratum.black/study/sites/sipan. Accessed 2026-09-21.
@misc{stratum-sipan,
title = {Sipán},
author = {{Stratum Study}},
howpublished = {\url{https://stratum.black/study/sites/sipan}},
year = {2026},
note = {Site article, Stratum Study pack 2026.09, as of 2026-09-21; sources: stratum, wikidata, commons. Accessed 2026-09-21.}
} Citations carry the pack version and the article's as-of date so they resolve to the same text later. The facts themselves belong to the sources listed below; cite those for the science.