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Archaeological Site · Excavated (museum)

The Lord of Sipán

~250 AD · found 1987, Huaca Rajada, near Chiclayo, Peru
RECOVERED
Evidence status: Historical tradition. no documented source (historical tradition); legal status unknown (manual verification recommended). This account is presented as historical tradition, not verified fact. Manual verification recommended. Repository evidence: 0 sources · 0 timeline events · 0 media items · legal unknown · view on the Map Evidence on file: historical tradition

The Lord of Sipán: still unexplained.

The 'King Tut of the Americas', an intact Moche royal tomb

The law of this ground: Peruvian national heritage; the treasures are in the Royal Tombs of Sipán museum.
The subject
developing the photograph…
Of note
The 'King Tut of the Americas', an intact Moche royal tomb
The account

Grave robbers tipped archaeologists to a mud-brick platform in 1987, and Walter Alva reached the chamber before the looters cleaned it out, the first unplundered Moche royal tomb ever found. Inside lay a warrior-priest under 451 objects of gold, silver, copper, and turquoise, his face under a golden mask. The richest tomb in the ancient Americas, found intact by a hair.

Leads, where the trail points now
  • Racing looters in 1987, archaeologist Walter Alva opened the unrobbed tomb of a Moche lord at Huaca Rajada, full of gold, turquoise, and his sacrificed court.
  • The site at Sipan is protected and has a museum; the surrounding Moche platforms may still hold unlooted tombs.
  • The live concerns are the looting threat and the many unexcavated huacas of the Lambayeque valley.
What the record holds

What remains open

  • No period map of the site has surfaced.
  • No contemporary press coverage has been found.
What we know, and what we don't
Established

No documentary claim is yet established. The account rests on tradition.

Still open
  • No period map of the site has surfaced.
  • No contemporary press coverage has been found.
The evidence room

No documentary or visual exhibits have been located yet. The trail below and the open leads are where this dossier grows next — every exhibit that enters here carries a source.

Where the trail points now
  • Racing looters in 1987, archaeologist Walter Alva opened the unrobbed tomb of a Moche lord at Huaca Rajada, full of gold, turquoise, and his sacrificed court.
  • The site at Sipan is protected and has a museum; the surrounding Moche platforms may still hold unlooted tombs.
  • The live concerns are the looting threat and the many unexcavated huacas of the Lambayeque valley.
  • Search Library of Congress + DPLA (IIIF) for period cartography of the site.
  • Run Chronicling America for dated newspaper mentions.
  • Query NARA for archival records tied to the site.

Have a source, a map, or a clipping? Add a lead and it enters the record with its citation.

Start the hunt here
The first leads, so no one walks in cold.
Sources and the record
Related case files

The full hunt kit

Starting brief, what's known and disputed, evidence timeline, source list, map card, coordinate-confidence and legal-access summaries, and a field checklist, free with a Fellowship account.

Latest Word From the Newswire

Context, not proof. The dossier's own sources remain the evidence record.

Checking the wire…

Chart position -6.800°, -79.600° (approx.) View on the Map