Ancient site · Temple
Cahuachi
The main ceremonial centre of the Nazca culture, beside the Nazca River and overlooking some of the Nazca Lines. It has more than 40 adobe-topped mounds spread over about 1.5 km².
Archaeologists once thought it was the capital of a Nazca state, but few people lived here permanently. It seems instead to have been a pilgrimage centre whose population swelled before and during great ceremonies. Many of its mounds are natural hills reshaped with adobe, and looting of its cemeteries is a serious problem.
- Dates
- c. 1–500 CE
- Still standing
- Yes
- Location
- 14.82° S, 75.12° W
How we know
No writing existed; the site is dated by radiocarbon and by Nazca pottery styles.
Nearby sites
- Nazca Lines c. 500 BCE – 500 CE
- Paracas cemeteries (Cerro Colorado) c. 800–100 BCE
- Caral (Sacred City of Caral-Supe) c. 2600–2000 BCE
- Chavín de Huántar c. 1200–500 BCE (dates debated)
- Sechín Bajo c. 3500–1300 BCE
- Tiwanaku (early city) founded c. 100 CE (dates debated); peak c. 500–1000; abandoned c. 1050 CE
Related
- Nazca culture archaeological culture
- The world in 1 BCE: The Augustan World chapter