<< Text Pages >> Sechin Bajo - Ancient Palace in Peru
Submitted by bat400 on Saturday, 01 March 2008 Page Views: 13856
Multi-periodSite Name: Sechin BajoCountry: Peru Type: Ancient Palace
Nearest Town: Casma, Peru
Latitude: 9.4647S Longitude: 78.265W
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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Ancient Building Complex in Ancash Region, Peru.Sechin Bajo is a large mound topped by a large building complex in the Casma Valley. The complex dates to what has been generally designated as the Initial or Formative Period, (4000 to 2800 years ago) of Peruvian society and monumental architecture is characterized by pyramid mounds of stone, adobe brick and various earthen fill, often topped by structures with a complex of multiple rooms and stairways.
The main site of Sechin Bajo is a platform mound 180 x 120 m, 18m high. This is topped by a stone, adobe brick and clay building, the main floor having interior walls nearly 3 m high. Portions of this building date to a much later period than portions of the mound itself. Excavations of portions of the complex have revealed what are likely multiple usage over an extended period of time, including burials. Unlike other sites in the Casma Valley, the building decoration found so far is a wall frieze of rough "graffiti" incised into a clay wall (dated to 3300 years ago).
The site appears to have been in use as a communal center many years before the partially excavated building. Recent discovery of a circular plaza dating back 5500 years puts the Casma Valley as possibly the oldest "urban" area in the Americas, predating the monuments of the Caral Supe Valley.
A website of Archeo Contract, a German firm associated with joint Peruvian German projects in the Casma Valley, describes the complex and basic information from surveys and excavations of the last 15 years, including photographs of the site.
Note: 5500 year old Plaza oldest "urban" site in Americas. Found buried beneath monumental buildings created over a period of 2000 years.
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