Chan Chan, on the coast of northern Peru near Trujillo, was the capital of the Chimú kingdom, which flourished from about the 9th century until its conquest by the Inca in the 15th century. Covering some 20 square kilometers, it was the largest earthen city of the pre-Columbian Americas. At its heart are walled complexes, or ciudadelas, enclosed by high adobe walls decorated with relief friezes of fish, birds and geometric patterns. Chan Chan was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1986 and placed on the List of World Heritage in Danger the same year, because its earthen architecture is highly vulnerable to rain, flooding and erosion.
In August 2019, CyArk documented the Palacio Tschudi and Palacio Rivero complexes, selected with Peru's Ministry of Culture through the Dirección Desconcentrada de Cultura de La Libertad and the Proyecto Especial Complejo Arqueológico Chan Chan (PECACH). The team used LiDAR, terrestrial photogrammetry and drone photogrammetry, with higher-resolution capture of the funerary complex at Palacio Rivero and the audiencias at Palacio Tschudi. A workshop trained PECACH staff in documentation and processing techniques for the site's ongoing monitoring program.
