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Pachacamac, Lima, Peru

Pachacamac is an archaeological site 40 km (25 mi) southeast of Lima, Peru in the Valley of the Lurín River.

The site was first settled around 200 CE and was named after the "Earth Maker" creator god Pacha Kamaq. The site flourished for about 1,300 years until the Spanish invaded.

Pachacamac covers about 600 hectares of land.

Pachacamac Plan
Plan Legend:

  1. Entrance
  2. Adobes lima complex
  3. Pyramid with ramp No. 1
  4. North south street
  5. Pyramid with ramp No. 2
  6. Pyramid with ramp No. 3
  7. Taurichumpi palace
  8. House of the quipus
  9. Residences
  10. Max Uhle cemetery
  11. Painted temple
  12. Old temple
  13. Pilgrim square
  14. Sun temple
  15. Acllawasi

Adobes lima complex (Plan No. 2)

Adobes lima complex informative poster
This complex, from 200 - 650 CE, which served as an administrative center, is the oldest building at the site.

  • The superimposed platforms and five quadrangular precincts around them form a T.
  • It was built using small adobes lined up verticaly, much like a bookshelf.
  • Later, during the Yachma period, this zone was used as a cemetery.

Adobes lima complex panorama

Pyramid with ramp No. 1 (Plan No. 3)

Pyramid with ramp No. 1 informative poster
These monumental constructions, from 900 - 1470 CE, functioned as administrative centers or possibly as palaces.

  • Sixteen of these pyramids have been identified within the temple complex.
  • This elevated structure is composed of several overlaying platforms and is accessed by a central ramp located in front of a large patio.
  • The building includes buried beposits, closed spaces, storage rooms, and roads connecting everything.
  • It seemed to serve as a palace for both public rituals and administrative duties.

Pyramid with ramp No. 1 panorama

North south street (Plan No. 4)

North south street
Northern section (top photo) and southern section (lower photo).

  • This important route to the temple complex was defined and delineated by tall walls of stone and adobe.
  • Currently 460 m (1509 ft) long and between 4 and 3 m (13 and 10 ft) wide, it intersects the East-West street that divides the city into four sectors.

Taurichumpi palace (Plan No. 7)

Taurichumpi palace
This residential building is located in the southern sector of the city. It consists of two connected plazas on the north side, surrounded by precincts, platforms, deposits and other structures connected by corridors and ramps.

  • According to the Spanish chroniclers, the curaco Tourichumpi lived in this building and was responsible for redistributing goods and resources throughout the valley and for managing the population and local cults.

Max Uhle cemetery (Plan No. 10)

Max Uhle cemetery informative poster
This area served as a cemetery from 600 - 1533 CE.

  • Located beneath and in front of the Painted Temple, it is the most important cemetery in the temple complex.
  • This site was investigated by Max Uhle, who recovered a number of funerary bundles with fine ceramic vessels and textiles that show some similarities to those of the Wari culture in Ayacucho.

Painted Temple (Plan No. 11)

Painted temple information poster
This rectangular building, from 200 - 1470 CE, is made of small adobes with 6-meter-tall ramparts covered with an adobe plaster decorated with anthropomorphic figures such as fish, birds and plants, painted red and yellow and outlined in black.

  • The building culminates in a platform with a chamber that housed the wooden idol of the god Pachacamac.
  • Some chroniclers and researchers believe that this building was the actual Oracle of Pachacamac and was in use up until the arrival of the Spanish.

Painted temple panorama

Painted temple

Old photo of the Painted temple

Pilgrim square (Plan No. 13)

Pilgrim square panorama
This plaza is located at the foot of the Sun temple and close to the Painted temple: it is 550 m (1,804 ft) by 65 m (213 ft) and it is approximately 35,750 m2 (384,810 ft2) large.

  • The large open space contains two rows of adobe columns that run down the center, which probably served to support a thatch roof that offered shade to pilgrims.
  • At the northern end of the plaza there are several structures and a basin made of typical Imperial Inka architecture.
  • To the south one can identify an ushnu with a central staircase.

Pilgrim square (left) and Painted temple (right)

Sun temple (Plan No. 14)

Sun temple information poster
This is a natural promontory that the Inca built, from 1470 - 1533 CE, into a trapezoidal building made of terraces and platforms of adobes.

  • The main side of the temple faces the sea and has a number of niches that possibly served to deposit offerings.
  • The temple is topped with an open space surrounded by smaller structures.
  • In ancient times, the temple had been covered by a layer of red plaster, which can still be seen on some walls.
  • Here, archaeologists discovered human sacrifices dedicated to the Sun as well as various other fine offerings.

Scale model of the Sun temple

Sun temple seen from north to south

Sun temple seen from northeast to southwest

Offering zone to Pachacamac

Pachacamac archaeological complex
Pachacamac archaeological complex seen from south to north, from the Sun temple.


Northeast entrance to the Sun temple

North wall of the Sun temple
Construction sequence:

  1. Building a wall with stones and adobes.
  2. Clay plaster.
  3. Application of clay pigment.

Pachacamac archaeological complex
Pachacamac archaeological complex seen from the Sun temple.


West wall of the Sun temple
This is the main facade of the Sun temple which faces the sea.


Panorama of the western wall of the Sun temple
On this main façade we can see a number of niches that were possibly used to deposit offerings.


Cuniraya and Cahuillaca
In the sea, in front of the Sun temple, are the Pachacámac islands.

  • In ancient times, Cuniraya travelled the highlands teaching the people how to build agricultural terraces and irrigation canals. His instructions resulted in abundant harvests, and this was perceived as an affront to the wisdom of the gods of others peoples.
  • During that time, a beautiful princess called Cavillaca lived in Anchicocha. Many gods wanted her, but she rejected them all and spent her days weaving beneath a lúcumo tree. Cuniraya fell in love with Cavillaca but she rejected his advances, so he turned into a bird and flew to the top of the lúcumo tree. Cuniraya placed his seed inside a lúcumo fruit and dropped it next to Cavillaca, who ate it and became pregnant. Nine months later she gave birth to a child whom she raised alone for a year.
  • When the child learned to crawl, Cavillaca summoned gods and princes to find out who was the father of her child. Upon hearing Cavillaca’s call, many men dressed in their finest clothes answered the call, confident that they would be chosen. Cavillaca asked each one of them if they were the father of her child, but they each replied that they were not. Cavillaca decided then to let her son wander among the men at the gathering and asked him to search for his father. The child crawled to a spot where a man dressed in ragged clothes was sitting; this man was no other than Cuniraya in disguise. When the mother saw this, she became very angry and could not stand the disappointment that a beggar was the father of her child, so she grabbed the child and ran towards the sea. To the amazement of all, Cuniraya got rid of his rags and arose, dressed in a golden suit, hoping that now Cavillaca would love him. He ran after her, but she did not even bother to look back and, in distress, she jumped into the sea where she and her child turned into stone. The largest island is Cavillaca and the small islet next to it is her son.
  • See more at Cuniraya Huiracocha - Wikipedia and Pachacámac Islands - Wikipedia.

Southern end of the Sun temple

Reconstruction of the Sun temple seen from the south

Structures at the eastern corner of the Sun temple

East wall of the Sun temple

Northeast entrance to the Sun temple
After completely circling the Sun temple we return to the northeast entrance.


Acllawasi (Plan No. 15)

Acllawasi information poster
The Acllawasi of Pachacamac is an elegant adobe building with Inca-style stone foundations. It is accessed through a long access passage.

  • The South Entrance of Acllawasi is a construction from the Inca period (1430 - 1533 CE), located at the western end of the East-West street of the sanctuary.
  • A large garbage dump from the Inca period was found there.
  • The ceramic fragments belong to plates, aryballs, jugs and pots of Inca and Ychma styles.
  • A significant number of female figurines were also identified.
  • Textile artifacts such as needles, spindles, combs and weaving swords stand out, associated with cotton and camelid fibers, demonstrating the great importance of this activity.
  • The study of the fauna confirms a large consumption of camelids, some birds and marine species.
  • The botanical study revealed the consumption of corn, pacae, lucuma, chili, avocado, peanuts, friar's plum, yuca, potato, among others.

Acllawasi panorama
The acllawasi (from the Quechua akllawasi meaning 'house of the chosen ones') refers to a network of residential buildings of the acllas, who were groups of women specialized in productive activities, particularly in textiles and the preparation of chicha, and who were obliged to provide labor services to the Inca state.

  • According to Garcilaso de la Vega, women entered the acllawasi at the age of 8 to guarantee their virginity - an indispensable condition - in addition to being cared for by eunuchs and elders.
  • According to Guamán Poma, every November the acllas were selected from each ayllu, regardless of whether they were members of the Inca family, daughters of a curaca or of humble origin: the only requirement was virginity. According to Cieza de León, the absence of lineage took a backseat when the beauty of the young woman was remarkable.
  • There were differences between the houses of Cuzco and those located in the provinces: in the former, women had to be of royal blood since they were destined to be the 'wives of the Sun'.

Painted temple (left) and Sun temple (right)
In this panorama we can see the Painted temple and the Sun temple seen from the Acllawasi.


See also

Source

Location

Location: Pachacamac, Peru