Huamachuco Religion
Creators: name: Sghinolfi, Amedeo
Publisher: name: Database of Religious History (DRH)
Year: 2023

description: The Huamachuco area, located in the Peruvian Northern Highlands at about 3,000 meters above sea level, was approximately occupied since the Initial Period (2000 – 1000 BCE) by people practicing both camelid herding and mixed farming (e.g. tubers, maize, fruits, etc…). The dispersed households of the Colpa phase (until 900 BCE) were followed by a three-tier settlement system during the Sausagocha phase (900-200 BCE). Even though some sites may have featured special structures with a ceremonial function, this area was not influenced by the pan Andean Chavín cult. The following Purpucala phase (200 BCE – 300 CE) may have been marked by a population increase, the possible emergence of elites, and an increase in warfare and interaction with the Cajamarca area and the Callejón de Huaylas. The first examples of monumental architecture (residential structures called circular galleries) also appeared during this phase. People kept growing and large, monumental sites spread during the later Early Huamachuco phase (300 – 600 CE), including the well-known ceremonial site of Marcahuamachuco. Sites with monumental architecture were close to each other, had different functions, and were likely part of the same settlement system. The complex composed of Cerro Sazón and Cerro Tuscan may have been the political core of the settlement system. In the Amaru phase (600 – ca. 800 CE) the area was briefly influenced by the Wari state (Peruvian Central Highlands), especially at the shrine of Cerro Amaru, with no major impact on the settlement patterns. The unfinished site of Viracochapampa may represent an attempt by Cerro Sazón/Tuscan elites to replace Marcahuamachuco as the main ceremonial center in the area. However, in the Late Huamachuco phase (ca. 800 – 1000 CE) the importance of Cerro Sazón/Tuscan decreased, the monumentality of Marcahuamachuco kept growing, and the importance of the site reached its peak. During the Tuscan phase (1000 – 1470 CE), monumental construction stopped at Marcahuamachuco and two site clusters emerged, each one likely representing an independent polity. The Santa Barbara phase (1470 – 1532 CE) encompasses the Inka domination of Huamachuco, a time marked by profound social, political, and economic changes in this area. The modern town covers the Inka administrative center, and storage rooms ('qollqa') surrounded the settlement. While no written accounts are available about the sociopolitical organization and religious practices of the Huamachuco people, archaeological investigations and colonial documents provide us valuable information, especially about the late prehispanic phases. Niched halls, which were found at various sites including Marcahuamachuco and Viracochapampa, were key ceremonial buildings. These structures were roofed rectangular structures featuring niches along the walls and were built since the Early Huamachuco phase. Bones of ancestors were placed in the niches, and lineage-based feasts were celebrated in these buildings. Such celebrations highlighted the autonomy of the communities living in the area, and an ideology centered around the unity of community members eventually prevailed over the idea of an elite-dominated society expressed by the rich mausoleum (300 - 600 CE) found at the pilgrimage center of Cerro Amaru. The document (Relación) written by the Augustinian friars residing in Huamachuco around 1560 has shed light on myths, deities, rituals, and places considered sacred ('wak'as') by Huamachuco people, leading archaeologists to identify what was deemed the ancestral place of origin of this group (Cerro Huacate) and the oracular sanctuary (Cerro Icchal) dedicated to Catequil, the principal deity of Huamachuco.