page_title: Osmore River
section_title: Cerro Baul
hierarchical_section_title: Osmore River / Archaeological studies / Cerro Baul
caption_attribution_description: Español: Cerro Baúl, yacimiento arqueológico de Perú situado en la cima aplanada de un cerro, en Moquegua. Cultura Huari e Inca.
context_page_description: Osmore River system flows northeast to southwest in the Moquegua Region of southern coastal Peru. The river has its origin in the snow peaks of the Chuqi Ananta and Arundane mountains, at an elevation of 5,100 metres. It changes names as it descends from the Andes: From its origin it is called the Moquegua, then Osmore in the middle valley as Rio Coscori and Rio Tumilaca including where the river disappears into subterranean channels, and further down in the lower reaches as Rio Ilo.
  An initial reconnaissance of the archaeological treasures of the valley carried out in the 1980s revealed more than 500 archeological sites dated from 10,000 years of human occupation. The Asana archaeological site, occupied over a period of 8,000 years, is located by the Asana River, a tributary of the Osmore.
  There are also Wari culture sites, and the Tiwanaku culture sites in the area; this is where these two cultures came in contact.
context_section_description: The earliest historical record is of the Cerro Baul, an imposing mesa, or a rocky peak in the middle of the Moquegua Valley and which overlooks the valley. A city once existed on this peak, now ruined.
  Early on, Cerro Baul was a major center for the Wari culture; it flourished between AD 600 and 1000. This is where the Wari came in contact with the Tiwanaku empire of the same time. Although both cultures maintained defensible hilltop settlements, there is no indication that they were at war with each other.
  Around 600 AD, the Wari brought large numbers of settlers to Cerro Baul and region. On the other hand, the earlier Tiwanaku settlement here was mostly in the lower reaches of the Moquegua river valley. Later on, there was more cooperation between them.
  Cerro Mejia is another site adjacent to Cerro Baúl. It is surrounded by multiple walls.
  Cerro Trapiche was another a Wari/Huaracane site in the middle valley near Tiwanaku settlements; it includes a walled hill peak with slingstone caches.
  After 1000, both Tiwanaku and Wari had abandoned their Moquegua settlements, and by 1100, the sister states had entirely collapsed. The Chiribaya culture persisted along the lower and middle sections of the Osmore River until about 1400 CE.  
  There were considerable similarities between the Wari and Tiwanaku religious iconographies as found by archaeologists; this suggests intimate contact between the Wari and Tiwanaku. There was also Tiwanaku influence on hybrid Wari keros vessels.
caption: Cerro Baúl, the archaeological site located on the flat top of a hill, in Moquegua
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