August 12, 2018 – August 15, 2018
The Chachapoyas (Cloud People) began building the fortified city of Kuelap in the 6th century AD, 600 to 900 years before Machu Picchu. The walls surround an area of 584 metres by 110 metres, and reach heights of up to 20 metres. Inside are the ruins of circular homesteads and temples. The setting for this is the top of a remote mountain, 3,100 metres above sea level (about 700 metres higher than Machu Picchu), in northern Peru, providing incredible views of the surrounding valleys. So why have you maybe never heard of Kuelap? Well, until recently it was very difficult to get to, but a recent investment in a cable car has opened up the site, which some claim to be as important as the more famous Machu Picchu.
We boarded the cable car for the 20 minute ride across a deep valley gorge. On the car with us was a young Peruvian woman, who videotaped the entire crossing, talking in hushed, rushed spanish, interspersed occasionally with exclamations which probably would translate as something like, “Yikes, look how high we are! I think that I am going to die”, and then she would giggle. She was quite entertaining, and before the ride was over we were asked to pose with her for a selfie photo of the three of us.
The valley beneath the cars was very deep.
A view of river below the cable car.
Everywhere we go in Peru you see walking paths zigzagging up the mountains.
We decided to hire a guide for our visit. Fanny spoke great english and she had a tremendous amount of information about the site. As it turns out, her father has worked at the site since modern excavations and restorations commenced in the 70s and 80s. She told us that the site was “discovered” in 1843 by a Peruvian judge during a land redistribution dispute. The local people, of course, knew about the site but were afraid to enter the walls due to the large number of skeletons that were buried here. They were afraid that if they entered, they would fall sick. In fact, Fanny told us, many of the people who worked on the excavation did become sick, her father included. He developed a huge swelling on his leg, but, luckily, the local people knew how to cure his affliction: they rubbed a guinea pig on the swelling, and then killed the guinea pig. It worked for her father, but according to Fanny, many who suffered “the curse of the mummies” also died.
We walked up a stone path a few hundred metres, breathing heavily in the thin air, and suddenly the walls of the fortified city came into view. There are only three entrances to the city. The walls of the entry allies narrow as you climb deeper into the city, meaning that attacking troops would have to squeeze down to single file as they gained access, thus being more easily defeated by the warriors inside. This worked for a long time but the more powerful Inca empire eventually conquered the Chachapoyans by laying siege to the fortress and then subjugating the ruling class allowing the Chachapoyan elite to continue ruling in return for tribute, as was the strategy of the Incans with respect to many cultures that they eventually absorbed. Late in the history of the site an architectural change to include oblong buildings are thought to indicate the presence of Incan overseers.
Our first view of the fortified city.
Looking back down the tapered entrance way. (The ramp, of course, has been built for the tourists).
It is believed that the greatest of the craftsmen lived within the walls of the city, as well as the political and religious leaders. At its height it is thought that about 3,000 people lived within the walls, and many more lived outside of the walls and provided the elite in the city with crops, water, other commodities and probably labour.
View of the surrounding countryside, still inhabited by farmers forming the community/village known as Kuelap.
When archeologists began to examine the site they discovered tombs beneath most of the round houses. They determined that when one of the peoples’ relatives died, they would dig a hole in the floor of their home, line the hole with rocks, then place the deceased family member in the tomb this then became a family crypt used generation after generation. They also found various body parts in a “well” in the main temple. It was determined that none of the bones in the temple matched up. Apparently, it was very important that your relative also be buried in the temple, but as space was limited, only part of the deceased would make it to the temple tomb during annual ceremonies.
These homes would have been covered with a tall, conical, thatched roof.
A crew of Llamas graze on the site to keep the grass down.
The north tower.
View to the West
Another interesting aspect of the homes was the built-in guinea pig runs. The kitchen would be on a one foot raised platform, and along the side of this platform would be a stone enclosure, maybe 3 metres long and 20 cm wide, where the household guinea pigs would live, eat and breed. Guinea pig, as you may recall from one of our earlier posts, is called cuy in the northern Andes and is a “delicacy” that has been eaten for thousands of years in South America. Talk about eating local!
Rhomboid decorations.
Me and our guide, Fanny.