Cerro Baúl

Cerro Baúl is a mesa with near-vertical sides standing six hundred metres above the Moquegua valley, and on its flat summit the Wari built a settlement around 600 AD - an extraordinary choice, since everything including water had to be carried up. What makes it archaeologically important is the neighbour: Tiwanaku, the other great Andean state of the period, had colonies in the same valley, and Cerro Baúl is the clearest evidence of the two empires in prolonged direct contact, apparently without conquest. Excavation found a large brewery producing chicha de molle on the summit, and evidence that when the site was abandoned around 1000 AD the occupants held a final ceremonial feast, drank, smashed the vessels and burned the buildings deliberately. The climb takes about an hour on a steep path. The summit is also a place of local pilgrimage with offerings left at the top.

What you actually see

• The mesa - a flat summit six hundred metres above the valley floor.
• The Wari colony - buildings, a temple and a large chicha brewery.
• The Tiwanaku contact - two rival states occupying the same valley.
• The closing feast - evidence of a final ceremony, then deliberate burning.

When to go

Year-round; start early for heat. Three to four hours including the climb of about an hour each way. Guides can be arranged in Moquegua.

Honest expectations

A steep, loose path with exposure - not suitable for anyone unsteady. No water or shade on the mountain. Excavated areas are backfilled in places, so much of the archaeology is not visible. The summit is a place of active local offerings; leave them alone.

Nearby

Torata is close; Moquegua is south-west down the valley.