Marcahuamachuco - city of the dead, a fascinating site in the northern Peru

Site Significance
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).
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 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.

Built on top of an isolated plateau 5 kilometers
long and 500 meters wide with a vast view of
its surroundings, Marcahuamachuco contains
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.
There is an urgent need to systematically
retrieve, digitize and organize information
from past publications and graphic material,
a good deal of which is not available in Peru.