Marcahuamachuco

Marcahuamachuco runs for around five kilometres along a narrow plateau at 3,600 metres, and the walls are what strike people first - long stone galleries standing up to twelve metres high, double-faced with internal chambers and passages, together with great circular enclosures up to fifty metres across. It was built and occupied from around 400 to 1000 AD by a highland society independent of both Wari and the coastal states, and its scale and defensibility have prompted readings as a ceremonial centre, a seat of regional lords, or a place of periodic assembly for dispersed communities. Little is settled. It is often called the Machu Picchu of the north, which sets the wrong expectation - the architecture is massive and austere rather than refined - but the scale is real, and it takes several hours to walk. Conservation work has stabilised sections, and it remains very lightly visited.

History

Construction began around AD 400 and continued until about 800, on an isolated mesa 5 kilometres long and 500 metres wide, with curved stone walls up to 12 metres high; the site probably held oracles that drew people from across the northern Andes. It was likely abandoned in the 15th century, and John and Theresa Lange Topic suggested in 1991 that occupation may have been seasonal, with up to 6,000 people (Wikipedia, Marcahuamachuco).

Highlights

• The galleries - double-faced stone walls standing up to twelve metres.
• The circular enclosures - great round structures up to fifty metres across.
• The extent - around five kilometres of building along a plateau ridge.
• The independence - a highland society outside both Wari and coastal control.

When to go

May to September; the plateau is wet and cold in the rains. Three to five hours to walk the site properly. Guides from Huamachuco are worth taking.

Things to know

At 3,600 metres with a lot of walking on uneven ground and no shade. Weather changes fast and fog can close the plateau. Facilities are minimal. The Machu Picchu comparison misleads - this is massive plain stonework, not fine masonry.

Nearby

Huamachuco is below; the Wiracochapampa site is on the same plateau.

Key facts