Marcahuamachuco, Peru
Pre-Inca City of the Dead
The Cerro de los Monjas sector of Marchahuamachuco.
During the Andean Early Middle Horizon (300–700A.D.) a regional highland state starts emerging, having as one of its main principal locations the extended monumental site of Marcahuamachuco in the northern highlands of Peru. Archaeological evidence shows increased articulation of Huamachuco culture to the neighboring northern (Cajamarca) and southern highlands (Conchucos and Callejón de Huaylas), and to some extent to the Pacific Coast (with the Moche tradition).
Built on top of an isolated plateau 5 kilometers long and 500 meters wide with a vast view of its surroundings, Marcahuamachuco contained several major compounds surrounded by curved stone walls as high as 12 meters, with inner galleries, rooms and plazas which suggest administrative and ceremonial functions.
During the later Middle (700-900 A.D.) and into the Intermediate Late Horizons (until around 1200 A.D.), archaeological evidence suggests that the walls were used for human burials contributing to the ceremonial functions of the site. Marcahuamachuco probably functioned as an oracle site which attracted people from all the northern Andes in areas that today comprise Peru and Ecuador. Cult practices were probably related to deities, an old cult to Ataujo, and a more recent cult to Catequil. Marcahuamachuco became a prominent center at the same time that the Wari culture in southern Peru flourished (400–1100 A.D.).
Abandonment of Marcahuamachuco was possibly in the 15th century.
