Cerro Sechín

Cerro Sechín is a small stepped temple whose outer wall is faced with around three hundred carved granite slabs, and the imagery is what people remember: armed figures in procession alternating with bodies cut apart - severed heads with closed eyes, spines, limbs, eyes trailing optic nerves - rendered plainly and repeatedly. The usual readings are a commemoration of a battle, a depiction of sacrifice, or a warning display; there is no consensus. The building dates to roughly 1600 BC, making it one of the oldest monumental structures on the coast, and it was found by Julio C. Tello in 1937. Earlier construction phases lie beneath, and the site was buried and rebuilt more than once. A museum on site holds material from Sechín and nearby valley sites. Casma valley also has Sechín Alto, a far larger complex, and Chankillo further out.

What you actually see

• The carved wall - around three hundred granite slabs of warriors and dismembered bodies.
• The imagery - severed heads, spines and limbs alternating with armed figures.
• The date - around 1600 BC, among the earliest monuments on this coast.
• The museum - finds from Sechín and other Casma valley sites.

When to go

Year-round; early for heat. One to two hours including the museum. Easily combined with Chankillo in the same valley.

Honest expectations

The carvings are graphic and some visitors find them disturbing. The temple itself is small - the wall is the site. Intense sun and no shade. What the imagery means is genuinely unresolved, whatever a guide asserts.

Nearby

Sechín Alto is close in the same valley; Chankillo is further along, and Casma is the base.