Geology Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 4.1.1. Modern brick from Trujillo, Peru brickyard showing bubbling, vitrification, and flow features
caused by the 1300
-
1600°C coal-fired, curing process
.
Photo by William E. Brooks, 2006
.
Field (Escudero, 1978; Samamé Boggio, 1979b, p. 1414; Petersen, 1983; Dunin-Borkowski, 1996; Carrascal et al.,
2000).
Prior to the Industrial Revolution in Europe,
found on the beaches of England indicated the regional
abundance of a fuel that would soon replace wood. In northern Peru, the regional abundance of coal is indicated
by sea-coale which may be found on the beach at Huanchaco, near Trujillo, and the archaeological site of
Chan Chan. This sea-coal was transported by streams from outcrops in the Santa Valley to the Pacific Ocean
and then was rounded by abrasion as longshore drift brought the coal northward along the coast to Huanchaco
(Brooks et al., 2004).
“
sea-coale
”
Coal is widely available in northern Peru and was used by ancient Peruvians, such as the Moche (approximately
100 BC to AD 700) and Chimu (approximately AD 800
1450), for metallurgy (Pfordte, 1893; Agramonte and
Diaz, 1983), mirrors, and jewelry (Mujica Gallo, 1959; Hyams and Ordish, 1963; Petersen, 1970; Burger, 1992;
Morris and von Hagen, 1993; Larco Hoyle, 2001, p. 133). At Huancavelica, coal was one of several local fuels
used for retorting mercury in the late 1800s (Arana, 1901, p. 102).
-
Coal is now mined in northern Peru on a small scale and is used locally for curing bricks (Figure 4.1.1), making
coal briquettes, cooking, and as a fuel to calcine limestone for making cement (Mucho, 1992; Wax, 2000; Brooks
and Willett, 2004; Brooks et al., 2004). However, despite the regional abundance of coal, large-scale mining of coal
in Peru is difficult because the coal has been tectonized and is present mainly in steeply dipping and faulted units.
Therefore, even though Peru has coal reserves of approximately one billion metric tons (Carrascal et al., 2000, p.
103), coal is imported for large-scale uses (Bowen, 2001).
Chan Chan
C
han Chan is in the Moche Valley, northern Peru, approximately 5 km from the modern city of Trujillo, and was
the most extensive adobe city in South America before the arrival of the Europeans in the 1500s (Hardoy, 1973).
It was the administrative, commercial, and metallurgical center of the Chimu Empire (approximately AD
800
-
1450). However, by the late 1400s, Chan Chan
'
s craftsmen and metalworkers had been absorbed into the
Inca Empire.
s ruins now cover as much as 20 km
2
and include 10 rectilinear
'
ciudadelas
Chan Chan
, or compounds, outlined by
adobe walls that were once as high as 10m. Burial practices at Chan Chan were simple to elaborate and one royal
burial platform, Laberinto, contained the bodies of 200
-
300 adolescents and young adult females (Conrad, 1982).
