<< Our Photo Pages >> Cerro Sechin - Ancient Temple in Peru
Submitted by bat400 on Monday, 08 October 2018 Page Views: 8776
Multi-periodSite Name: Cerro SechinCountry: Peru
NOTE: This site is 2.249 km away from the location you searched for.
Type: Ancient Temple
Nearest Town: Casma
Latitude: 9.4808S Longitude: 78.2591W
Condition:
5 | Perfect |
4 | Almost Perfect |
3 | Reasonable but with some damage |
2 | Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site |
1 | Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks |
0 | No data. |
-1 | Completely destroyed |
5 | Superb |
4 | Good |
3 | Ordinary |
2 | Not Good |
1 | Awful |
0 | No data. |
5 | Can be driven to, probably with disabled access |
4 | Short walk on a footpath |
3 | Requiring a bit more of a walk |
2 | A long walk |
1 | In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find |
0 | No data. |
5 | co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates |
4 | co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map |
3 | co-ordinates scaled from a bad map |
2 | co-ordinates of the nearest village |
1 | co-ordinates of the nearest town |
0 | no data |
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I have visited· I would like to visit
davidmorgan visited on 15th Jul 2019 Wonderful carvings - a bit gory.
bat400 visited on 3rd Sep 2018 - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 4 Access: 4 "Cerro" is the actual hill immediately behind where this structure was built. A path along the hillside above the building was described by our guide as being a modern structure meant to prevent erosion and landslides, but I'm not certain that this wasn't a translating error on our part.
A common theory about the building is that incised slabs of warriors and the dead were put into place as a combination of a warning to those who might oppose the Sechin power and a statement of triumph over their enemies. The depictions of dead (sacrificed?) include streams of blood flowing from missing eyes, severed heads and limbs. Combined with the slightly cartoonish presentation, I found this to be one of the more unsettling depictions of ancient violence I've seen at ancient sites, which is saying a lot.
Nearby there are half finished slabs of stone with similar engraving, but all of them have either flaws in the stone itself or actual errors in the carving (misplaced facial features, asymmetries, or just plain ugly) and appear to have been abandoned midway through the process.
A small museum is on site as well, with textiles, ceramics, and human remains from a burial. Several hairless Peruvian dogs live here in the outside area.
The Sechin Complex culture dates back to Peru's "Formative" period in the second millennium BC. This is the most highly decorated building in the Casma Valley of this era. The decorated slabs are estimated to have been put in place long after the initial construction of the structure, ~1290 BC. The incised figures include warriors armed with clubs and wearing headdresses and decorated kilts. The other figures are of either the dead of battle or sacrificial victims in various states of dismemberment: bodies severed into pieces, piles of eyeballs, spines. It is unknown if the figures depict mythology or realistic ceremony.
The Casma valley supported multiple massive complexes like Cerro Sechin along with towns and villages often sited in long rows facing a central street. Cerro Sechin and much of the "urban" Casma Valley was abandoned by 800BC. Examination of aerial photos also reveals rectangular buildings or platforms on many of the desert hill tops.
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