Pre Inca Temple Discovered in Peru

LIMA — Archaeologists have discovered the ruins of an ancient temple, roadway and irrigation systems at a famed fortress overlooking the Inca capital of Cuzco, according to officials involved with the dig.

The temple on the periphery of the Sacsayhuaman fortress casts added light on pre-Inca cultures of Peru, showing that the site had religious as well as military aims, according to researchers.

It includes 11 rooms thought to have held mummies and idols, lead archaeologist Oscar Rodriguez told The Associated Press.

The team of archaeologists that made the discoveries believes the structures predated the Inca empire but were then significantly developed and expanded.

"It's from both the Inca and pre-Inca cultures; it has a sequence," Washington Camacho, director of the Sacsayhuaman Archaeological Park, told the AP on Thursday. "The Incas entered and changed the form of the temple, as it initially had a more rustic architecture."

Archaeologists are still waiting for carbon dating tests, but Camacho said their calculations about the facilities' age are supported by historical references such as ceramics and construction style.

Previous carbon-14 dating of Sacsayhuaman revealed that the Killke culture constructed the fortress in the 1100s, said Peruvian archaeologist Luis Lumbreras, former director of Peru's National Culture Institute and an expert on Cuzco's pre-Incan cultures. He was not involved in the dig.

The Killke occupied the region from 900 to 1200 A.D., prior to the arrival of the Incas.

Sacred Ruins Older Then Incas Found In Peru

The Telegraph (UK)
By Roger Highfield, Science Editor
Last Updated: 3:01pm GMT 14/03/2008

The ruins of a sacred temple have been uncovered that predates the Incas, say archaeologists.

Some of the structures hidden in a forest of eucalyptus trees predate the Inca empire but were then significantly developed and expanded, with a roadway and irrigation, says a team from Peru's National Institute of Culture.

The ruins at Sacsayhuaman that predate the Incas

Archaeologists were lucky to find the ruins at all, as part of the structure was destroyed by dynamite blasts in the early 20th century, when the site was used as a stone quarry.

The ruins lie in the Archaeological Park of Sacsayhuamán, north of Cusco city, a 3,000 hectare site that is home to many Inca monuments, notably Sacsayhuamán ("satisfied hawk" in Quechua, the Inca language), Qenqo, a shrine on a hilltop where maize beer was stored for rituals, Puca Pucará, the "red fortress", and Tambomachay, home of a water cult.

The newly-found ruins are located in Cochapata, 170 metres from the archaeological complex of Qenqo and 1,500 metres from the huge stone block walls of Sacsayhuamán Fortress.

The 250 square-metre temple has 11 rooms of different sizes, some of them are the shape of a half Chacana (an Incan religious symbol), a three-stepped cross representing the southern cross and symbolising the three tiers of Inca life, explained Oscar Rodríguez, archeologist.

The rooms were thought to hold mummies and idols. "This was an adoration centre," says Rodriguez, a researcher at the Sacsayhuaman park that, like the ancient Incan citadel of Machu Picchu, is a popular tourist destination.

The roadway, buried for hundreds of years under a metre of soil, is believed to have formed part of a network connecting Sacsayhuaman's buildings.Archaeologists are also busy unearthing a hydraulic system, which may have been used to supply water.

The team is still waiting for carbon dating tests, but ceramics and construction style provide important clues. Remnants of Ayarmaca ceramics are scattered throughout the site. The Ayarmaca occupied the region from 900 to 1200.

They will spend the next five years investigating evidence of other buildings near the temple, which was made of stones and adobe. "It's from both the Inca and pre-Inca cultures, it has a sequence," Washington Camacho, director of the Sacsayhuamán Archaeological Park "The Incas entered and changed the form of the temple, as it initially had a more rustic architecture."

He adds: "The temple is one of the most important in the Sacsayhuamán site." The Spanish conquered the Incas in 1532.

Pre-Inca' Temple Found In Peru

BBC

The temple is a mile from the zig-zagging Sacsayhuaman fortress

Archaeologists in Peru have discovered ancient temple ruins that could predate the Inca empire. The temple on the periphery of the Sacsayhuaman fortress includes 11 rooms thought to have held mummies and idols.

The discovery at the famous spot overlooking the Incan capital of Cuzco includes ancient roadway and irrigation systems, said the team of experts.

Researchers are still waiting for carbon dating tests to verify the age of the ruins.

The find was made in the archeologically rich region of southern Peru that includes the famed Machu Picchu ruins.

Sequence

Made of stones and adobe, the temple is said to measure 2,700 sq ft (250 sq m) and includes an area in the shape of a Chacana, an Incan religious symbol.

"It's from both the Inca and pre-Inca cultures, it has a sequence," Washington Camacho, director of the Sacsayhuaman Archaeological Park, told AP news agency.

"The Incas entered and changed the form of the temple, as it initially had a more rustic architecture."

The Inca empire flourished along the western edge of South America during the 1400s, prior to the arrival of the Spanish in the next century.

The archaeologists believe the apparent irrigation system they have found was built by the Ayarmaca, who occupied the region between 900 to 1200.

Researchers said they had been lucky to find the temple, as part of it was destroyed nearly a century ago by dynamite blasts at a nearby rock quarry.

The team's excavations began last summer and are expected to continue for another five years.

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