CERRO LLAMOCA: IMPORTANT LANDMARK OF A SACRED LANDSCAPE IN THE ANDES OF SOUTHERN PERU
Channel: European Association of Archaeologists
Date: 27/03/2021

As part of the research project „Andean Transect“, the German Archaeological Institute studied a large number of pre-hispanic sites in the most diverse ecological zones between the Pacific Ocean and the western cordillera of the Andes in southern Peru. Evidence of religious practices related to water and fertility are manifest in many places that can be considered as part of a holy landscape. One of the most emblematic sites with these characteristics is a mountain called Cerro Llamoca, located at an alti-tude of 4500 masl, right above the headwaters of the Viscas River, a tributary of the Río Grande de Nasca River. Because of its proximity to the river springs and an extended peat bog that attracted human settlers since the earliest occupation of the region (around 10000 BC), the mountain was venerated as Apu (holy mountain) throughout pre-hispanic times. Around and on the sum-mit of the mountain a great number of Apachetas (stone piles) and structures can be observed, including a D-shaped structure, an architectural form that is clearly linked to religious practices of the Wari culture (600-1000 AD). In colonial documents, Cerro Llamoca is mentioned as one of the most important sacred mountains of the Central Andes. The written sources also describe the associated idols that were destroyed by the Spaniards during the so-called extirpation of idolatry in the early colonial period.


Author(s): Reindel, Markus (German Archaeological Institute) - Isla, Johny (Peruvian Ministry of Culture)