Renewal of Cities

The Casma Valley, is a coastal valley situated about 200 miles north of Lima, and lies along the Casma River, seven miles south of Tortuga and three miles east of Santa Melani, and 25 miles south of Chimbote.

The Casma River, which upstream is called Río Grande, is a river that crosses northern Casma province in the Ancash region and originates in the Black Mountain Range of Peru, and drains into the Pacific Ocean. Major tributaries include the Sechín River.

The valley is notable for the grand scale of numerous archaeological sites, including the major complexes of Sechín Bajo, Sechín Alto, Cerro Sechín, Mojeque, Chankillo, and Taukachi-Konkan, as well as other smaller sites. These are noted for their stone-faced pyramids and the Thirteen Towers of Chankillo. Sechín Alto is the largest American construction of the first or second millennium BC, Cerro Sechín is also from the Sechín culture.

Today, Casma is a small and unassuming town in Peru’s North Coast region. The archeological sites of Sechín and Las Aldas are close by; however, anciently, this site was a major city with at least five major pyramids and several smaller ones. Known as the Cerro Sechín (also Sechín de las Estelas) is an archaeological site dating to around 1600 to 900 BC, and was discovered by Peruvian archaeologists Julio C. Tello and Toribio Mejía Xesspe in 1937. The latter, Tello’s assistant, discovered large polychrome figures at Mojeque, another site in the Casma Valley.

Mojeque, or Pampa de las Llamas-Moxeke, is a large archaeological site located in the Casma Valley, and archaeologists believe it functioned as a temple or religious structure. It contains two large mounds, many smaller mounds, and multiple human figures and heads believed to depict deities or divine rulers (Thomas and Shelia Pozorski, "Early Complex Society on the North and Central Peruvian Coast: New Archaeological Discoveries and New Insights,” Journal of Archaeological Research, vol.26, no.4, Switzerland, 2001, pp353–386).

Often referred to as the “Weeping God” by archaeologists, this symbol appears in one form oranother throughout Peruvian cultures and was known anciently as Pachacamac (Pachakamaq), the Creator God

 

The carved figures at the site include the striking image of the "Weeping God," found also at other Andean sites. This frieze located at Sechin Bajo is the oldest example of monumental architecture discovered thus far in the Americas. This means that the Casma/Sechin culture may have originated as early or earlier than Norte Chico, currently considered the oldest civilization of the Americas ("Oldest Urban Site in the Americas Found, Experts Claim," National Geographic News, Feb 26, 2008).

The complex was thought originally to belong to the Chavin Culture (900 to 200 BC). American archaeologists Thomas and Sheila Pozorski studied the site in the 1980s. They placed its construction in the "Initial period", 1800 BC to 900 BC (before Chavin). The Pozorskis also saw that the site links with the neighboring Pampa de las Llamas complex.

There are two very large pyramid-shaped mounds: "Moxeke" and "Huaca A", ¾ of a mile apart. In the vicinity, there are also scattered more than 100 small mound structures aligned with the main mounds. The main mound is Moxeke, a stepped pyramid containing at least six platforms. It was about 100 feet in height, and almost quadrangular: about 525 feet by 558 feet. It was built from megalithic stones, also using conical adobe bricks. The whole site covers about 1¼ miles (Jerry D. Moore, Architecture and Power in the Ancient Andes, Cambridge University Press, UK, 1996, p4). The site also contains the remains of many other buildings, including the administrative buildings, and groups of residences of different sizes.

The circular underground plaza

 

The Pozorskis also found some evidence that there was still earlier construction on the site. In fact, an ancient stone plaza was uncovered amid a complex of ruins at Sechín Bajo, which dates back several millenniums and is likely the oldest known urban settlement in the Americas. According to Cesar Perez, an archaeologist at Peru's National Institute of Culture who supervised the dig, claimed that his major discovery could help reshape archaeologists’ understanding of the continent's pre-Columbian history. This, of course, places “the discovery of tremendous importance, both in Peru and internationally," Perez add, “we think it's the oldest urban site found in the Americas.”

Word of the discovery was first published in the Peruvian daily El Comercio, the oldest newspaper in Peru, and one of the oldest Spanish-language papers in the world, and is one of the most influential media in Peru.

“The findings in Sechin Bajo, especially in the buried circular plaza, have demonstrated that there is construction from 5,500 years ago,” Peter R. Fuchs, a German archaeologist who worked at the site, told the newspaper. "Whoever built Sechin Bajo had a good knowledge of architecture and construction.” The plaza, 33 to 39 feet across, and was built of rocks and adobe bricks. Successive cultures evidently lived in the area and built over the site. Much of the hidden plaza was uncovered recently, and “a great deal of excavation remains to be done,” Perez added. Relatively little is known about the people who lived there.

Earlier finds in the Sechin Bajo, had been dated at about 3,000 years old; however, the circular plaza pushes the area's settlement date back considerably (Patrick J. McDonnell, “The circular structure at the ruins of Sechin Bajo (Patrick J. McDonnell, Los Angeles Times, February 26, 2008).

Peru is perhaps best known to outsiders as the cradle of the Inca empire, which stretched from modern-day Chile to Ecuador. But the Incas were relative latecomers in Peru's long history of human settlement, rising to prominence in the 15th century before being conquered by the Spanish in the early 16th century—a period of around 100 years. Before the Inca, Peru was home to various civilizations that left a rich legacy of ruins, pottery, tombs and artifacts. Teams of archaeologists are at work throughout the country, including the bustling capital.
Scientists say settlements were beginning to grow in Peru about the time of urbanization in such cradles of civilization as Mesopotamia, Egypt and India.

As for the discovery of the plaza beneath the ruins of the site is reminiscent of an incident mentioned briefly in the scriptural record: “And the Lord did prosper them exceedingly in the land; yea, insomuch that they did build cities again where there had been cities burned. Yea, even that great city Zarahemla did they cause to be built again” (4 Nephi 1:7-8).