| Huanuco |
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| A Barn for The Central Andes |
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The Central Highlands and Jungle have
been inhabited by Peruvians since remote times.
The Lauricocha cave, for example, contains human remains
, the oldest found in Peru, dating back to the last
Glacial Period (10 000 years). Besides, the oldest temple
in America –Kotosh- is also in Huánuco.
Central Jungle geography characterizes a great part
of the department that is the most accessible amazon
region from Lima. The city of Huánuco (2 000
masl) lies 400 km from Lima, 360 km from Huancayo and
179 km from Junín. It is advisable to visit the
region between April and October.
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| The Kotosh Temple |
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Just 5 km from the city of Huánuco
lies Kotosh (2 100 masl), a group of temples built with
quarried stones joined with mud mortar in stage starting
in the year 2 000 BC.
Up to 11 buildings have been identified in some sectors,
built in stages from the initial Ceramic to the Early
Horizon periods. The temples are not large. On the contrary,
they are rectangular constructions of curved corners not
exceeding 20 m2. They are all oriented to the southwest.
Inside, seats run along the walls and a circular fireplace
in the central part is connected to the outside through
a ventilation duct running under the floor. Some of the
oldest constructions are the Nichitos Temple, the Crossed
Hands name comes from two crossed arms modeled in mud
on one of the building´s inside faces. Similar constructions
have been found elsewhere in Huánuco, in the highlands
of Ancash and, recently, on the coast of the Kotosh-type
temples’ tradition, originating in the Eastern Highlands,
seems to represent a very old religious ideology whose
spread is still unknown. |
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| The Huánuco Pampa Administrative
Center |
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Huánuco Pampa, the most important
Inca center in the region, is located in Dos de Mayo,
a providence about 150 km from the city of Huánuco.
It sits on a plain at 3 800 masl over an area of 2 500
square meters.
Among its remains, Huánuco Pampa, or Huánuco
Viejo (old Huánuco), as it is also known, features
the kallankas, large rectangular halls for state-organized
functions. Also to be seen are the colcas or deposits
for huge amounts of corn, tubers and manufactured goods.
More than 500 circular and rectangular colcas have been
identified. They have a total storage capacity of approximately
40 000 m3. These deposits are aligned along the slopes
surrounding the site, and were built so that temperature
and wind would create a surprising refrigerating effect
in their interior. Huánuco Pampa was also a manufacturing
center, where products were prepared and transformed for
their further redistribution to the population, especially
textiles, which were very much appreciated goods during
the Tawantisuyu times.
The Inca center had access to end control over a large
variety of resources, as well as a numerous and well-organized
population.
Given its economic and political importance, Huánuco
Pampa was connected to Quito to the north and to Cusco
to the south through the main road that ran along the
mountain range and was part of the Capac Ñan, the
great Inca road system. Huánuco Pampa shows a planned
pattern of streets and buildings converging towards a
large square in the middle of which an ushnu or ceremonial
platform was built with finely-carved stone blocks. The
ushnu is an architectural element of profound symbolic
content present in many Inca administrative sites and
related to a series of ritual and political events aimed
at legitimizing the domination of new territories. |
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Archeology |
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