• Huaca Huantinamarca. Within the bounds of Lima’s zoo or Park of the Legends in San Miguel, is the ancient huaca Huantinamarca, part of Lima’s highest concentration of ruins, though only a few have been explored. So far those excavated have revealed concentrations of pottery, musical instruments and food, which are exhibited in an onsite museum. According to the Park, the land at the zoo was part of the ancient Maranga Complex, along with the Catholic University, as well as the San Marcos University, and other urban areas, encompassing more than 60 preserved sites. While most people are familiar with Pucllana, there are numerous other huacas in the area, including Huantinamarca.
Huacas, or sacred buildings, also known as Apus, were first constructed by those before the Lima people, like Huantille, and used by theLima, later by the Curacazgo Maranga, then the Ichma people and finally the Incas, who all made use of these huacas that were ancient by the time the Inca began their empire.
High-rise apartment now buildings surround the Huantinamarca archeological site, along Pacifico Avenue in Lima. A small group of archeologists and officials are stepping up efforts to preserve the sites being squeezed by urban sprawl, including Huantinamarca, which is also called Huaca de la Feria del Pacífico, which is a pre-Hispanic archaeological site located in the district of San Miguel in Lima.
The ancient site of huaca Huantinamarca presently being excavated within the Greater Lima area
The archaeological site of Huantinamarca is located 2½ miles sourth of huaca San Marcos. After almost 50 years of being an ornamental component in the Pacific International Fair, it became part of the real estate project Parques de la Huaca. To make the pre-Hispanic and pre-Inca site come closer to the community, the surroundings were turned into modern and utilitarian spaces, such as buildings and a public park. The main objective of the intervention was to achieve the visual and affective integration of the monument into the daily life of the occupants of the Parques de la Huaca housing complex, management for the preservation and revaluation of cultural and natural heritage, of Huantinamarca in San Miguel.
• Huanta Huantill. Within a sandy and clay area in the middle of Lima, housing the remains of an ancient huaca, is a common sight in the city, which is dotted with buildings from a time long before the rise of the Inca. The huaca Huantille was one of countless archaeological sites that has partially been lost at that time the indigenous cultures built them. Preceded the Lima culture, the Ichma and finally the Incasl occupied them but did not build them. These pyramidal buildings have left their mark, even many that have been lost in modern times, some even becoming invisible. However, some invisible ones have reappeared in recent years. Such was the history of the huaca Huantille.
Today, this ancient pyramid looks incongruous in the middle of Lima's modern streets—no longer any sign of the shanty town and slums mentioned in earlier reports, so the city has clearly worked hard to protect and present the structure.
Adobe bricks stacked at Huaca Huantille are made of earth with a fairly high clay content and straw and then only sun-dried, rather than being kiln dried. Only the very dry conditions make this suitable for such significant structures. These adobe bricks give a good idea of the material used in many parts of Peru.
The huaca Huantille has been actively integrated into the list of structures worthy of being seen since its rediscovery. The site is still being excavated and restored, but visitors can visit the building for free. At the moment, Huantille, is in various stages of restoration along its route. Restorers get an idea of how they would have looked in the past, but they also see what building materials are hidden under the clay layer. During the excavations of 2006, sacrificial sites and a cemetery were revealed, as well as painted walls, ceramics and textiles, which can be seen today in the associated museum.
Huantille is a stepped pyramid-shaped structure with several floors that are smaller towards the top, creating an adobe flat-topped pyramid. It has an access ramp and several rooms and terraces. Today the site is 100,080 cubic feet, which is only about one third of the original 388,461 cubic-feet size. Due to its size, it is assumed that the huaca served as a fortress, among other things. The best preserved is the east side, where the pyramidal structure of the huaca is particularly clear.
In fact, this pyramid complex, now found on the 12th block of Avenida Castilla in Magdalena del Mar, not far from Magdalena’s plaza and popular market, would have been found during the Colonial Period on the far outer reaches of Maranga, among green farm land. When Lima’so growth boomed, the rural town of Magdalena del Mar became part of a densely populated city, and the huaca Huantille quickly found itself surrounded by modern buildings
From the top of the huaca, on a clear day, one could once see out over the pyramids of Maranga, and also out over Limatambo (2½ miles distance) and other administrative centers. It formed the main temple of the Señorío de Magdalena, a process that destroyed nearby huacas. A significant part of the huaca Huantille was destroyed by a brick maker in the 1960s in search of materials. Later, the invasores (invaders) arrived, and people started building makeshift shacks on the ruins themselves, similar to those at huaca Mateo Salado. With the collapse of Peru at the hands of “an incompetent young president,” social decay and crime crept into the local community. The area around the huaca became dangerous and even known as the number one place in Lima to purchase drugs. The huaca Huantille sat there slowly decaying among slums, addicts and drug dealers.
However, Magdalena has been revitalized the invasores removed and rehoused elsewhere, and the remaining huaca is being excavated and turned into a small tourist area. The irreparable damage caused by the brick maker and by those who had illegally lived there became apparent—what was once a 36,090 square-foot pyramidal complex, only about one-third remains intact. The surrounding huacas in the complex have disappeared without trace.
Still, impressive finds have been excavated from the remaining huaca, including ceramics, mates burilados and copper, silver and gold pieces. The overall work has greatly benefited the local community, with crime in the area down 90% and expected to disappear completely with the artistic lighting to be installed at the end of the restoration process. Work is also being done to paint nearby houses, and beautify the area
No comments:
Post a Comment