Lords of Sipan: A True Story of Pre-Inca Tombs, Archaeology, and Crime (Hardcover)

~ Sidney D. Kirkpatrick (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Kirkpatrick ( A Cast of Killers ) engagingly recounts how Peruvian archeologist Walter Alva out-maneuvered huaqueros (grave robbers), international smugglers and governmental interference to successfully excavate one of the richest deposits of pre-Columbian artifacts in South America. Alva, who publicized his discovery in National Geographic , mobilized a depleted local police force, recruited indigenous laborers, ingeniously neutralized community resistance, and raised sufficient funding to painstakingly sift through a Huaca Rajada burial site for evidence of Moche royalty in the coastal valleys of northern Peru, skillfully unfolds this stirring drama of one man's fight to preserve his country's cultural heritage. Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Around midnight on February 25, 1987, local police awoke Walter Alva, inspector general of archaeology for the Peruvian province of Lambayeque along Peru's north coast. The police informed Alva that they had seized a rice sack of artifacts plundered from a local Moche tomb at nearby Huaca Rajada. Thus begins the tale, written like a mystery, of the discovery and excavation of the richest archaeological find in pre-Columbian America. Kirkpatrick follows the trail of the illegal artifacts as they pass from Peru to London and then into the hands of U.S. collectors in California, juxtaposing chapters on the actual excavation. The six-level tomb yielded a remarkable collection of finely crafted objects, large figurines, and beautifully preserved pottery dating from A.D. 100 to 300. Kirkpatrick, whose previous A Cast of Killers (NAL-Dutton, 1992) made the New York Times Best Sellers list, based this mesmerizing tale on interviews with Alva, the Peruvian police, U.S. customs agents and collectors, and the looters themselves. It's a book the reader won't be able to put down.
- Brian E. Coutts, Western Kentucky Univ. Libs., Bowling Green
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow & Co; 1st edition (October 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0688103960
• ISBN-13: 978-0688103965
• Product Dimensions: 9.7 x 6.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #836,153 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If you liked the Celestine Prophecy, you will love this!!, March 7, 1998

By A Customer

My wife and I have personally been to the Sipan Project at Huaca Rajada three times. We feel that this book should be brought back in print right away!! Except for actually going to Peru, there is very few sources of factual information about this amazing find. The richest 'dig' in our part of the world EVER!! (began 1987). A story that will bring tears to your eyes, hope to your heart and is an awesome adventure tale that will keep you up all night. Find it, read it ... help to share and preserve the Ancient Cultures of our mutual past.(my actual rating is 22).

3.0 out of 5 stars THE PYRAMID WENT FLAT, March 8, 2009

By	D. Meyers (Grand Rapis, MI) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I read this book based on the promise that it was a RIVETING TRUE STORY. Kirkus Reviews stated: "Exiciting Indiana Jone-like adventure...blends offbeat characters, local color, and a lurking mystery into top-drawer nonfiction." Was I fooled! After a fairly strong start, the book read like a National Geographic article. It was really too long and failed to take advantage of potential RIVETING excitement as it unfolded. The author wrote like a reporter and did not use embellishment or descriptions that might engage the reader in any type of Indiana Jones-like drama. The motivation for finishing the book lies entirely on the dedication of the reader. The book exists in some type of literary limbo. I am not sure whether it is scholarly enough to be used as a research reference but on the other hand, it does not use enough literary style to be classified as a good story. With that said, it did pique my interest and I have checked on tours to Peru.

5.0 out of 5 stars A real attention grabber., April 7, 2008

By	Douglas E. Libert "howitt" (parkersburg wv) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

There is probably more about the illegal sale of pre-Columbian art objects than about the Moche.But there is still a good description of the Moche culture,although no maps.It would have been interesting to see a map of where the Moche were in relation to the desert areas the author describes.I remember well when National Geographic did their first article on the Moche tombs of Peru.It left a sinister impression of short,squat,hefty dark fellows decorated with all kinds of splendid gold and finery,presiding over an unknown yet significant number of human sacrifices.Prisoners bound on their way to the temple,with priests drinking goblets of blood,either their own or their victims.And all those spooky looking large crescent moon shaped gold and gilded nose rings.
The author subtly takes some of supposed savagery of the Moche and makes it appear more understandable in relation to alot of these pre-Columbian cultures. For one the crescent moon probably is exactly that seeing that the Moche were more "night sky" people and had a sacred relation to the moon and its phases.I no longer have the mental picture of a grunting bejewelled priest waiting at the top of a pyramid to whack a victim with some strange kind of religious mace. Not that it didn't happen that way,just that it's no longer my main impression ala National Geographic,(which still is a great publication.
The author gives a good description of the tomb robbing industry and how alot of Moche art actually ended up in respected upscale art galleries.He traces them from the hand spade Juan Valdez's who'll work for coffee beans to patrons of the arts who'll spend tens of thousands to get these treasures.The author concludes with a description of how legislation both local and international are trying to put a stop to the looting of a country's heritage and how difficult it is to stop it.Apparently alot of the collectors'of pre-Columbian art believe(and at times it could even be true),that they are in fact the saviours of this art and culture.He even hints that pre-Columbian art junkies will lie,cheat, steal,go into unconquerable debt,or even persuade gently to obtain their Moche fix.Is this a new disease that can be classified with a medical term?There is drama in this book as well,particularly the archaeologist, Dr. Walter Alva's story. Alva's numerous confrontations of tomb robbers and angry townspeople,sprinkled through the book,add excitement that we can all identify with.