Monuments of the Chillon Valley: Cerro Culebra

The archaeological zone of Cerro Culebra or Huaca Culebras is located at the mouth of the Chillón River, on the right bank (Ventanilla).

The site was declared Cultural Heritage of the Nation in 2001, through National Directorial Resolution No. 082/INC.

It is an administrative center with buildings intended for housing. An organized community of fishermen was located there (Jorge Silva). It corresponds to the Lima Culture, 3rd-4th centuries AD. Early Intermediate Period. Materials: adobe, stone and cane. Technique: rammed earth. It is built on a trapezoidal base and organized into three sectors.

Juan Paredes Olvera points out: «This settlement consists of a main building well defined by its volume and extension, which is surrounded to the southeast and northwest by smaller buildings. The majority of these structures are concentrated in the ravines to the north of the main structure » (The Lima culture in the Lower Valley of the Chillón River. Archeology and Society N. 13, 2000).

On the southeast side, at ground level, there is a mound with an L-shaped plan, divided into two subsectors called Quebrada 4 and Pampa de los Perros. On the northwest side there is another sector adjacent to the building, which develops in three ravines. In the middle of these sectors is the main building, made up of two superimposed platforms and a central ramp facing southwest.

In the 1950s, Louis Stumer discovered polychrome murals with the classic interlocking motif, characteristic of the Lima Culture.

Where is Cerro Culebras located?

The Huaca Cerro Culebras is located in the district of Ventanilla, on the right bank of the Chillón River, within the province of Callao, in the department of the same name. It is an archaeological legacy left by the inhabitants of the Lima Culture, probably settled in the area during the 3rd to 8th centuries of our era. And its discovery and greater compilation of information is due to the studies that the archaeologist Stumer carried out in the area in the 50s of the last century.

What to see in Cerro Culebras?

In this huaca, which occupies an average space of 33 hectares, you can find different architectural remains, including a pyramid, located in the main sector, where the presence of a mural with different pigmentations was found in the first studies ( range of reds, white and black), which showed the knowledge and use of polychromy by these people. Regarding this mural (28 m by 6 m), it is important to observe the presence of designs of snakes and fish that are intertwined and framed by thick lines. This huaca also includes another area (which is divided into two territories), in which you can see different buildings in which domestic use or purpose takes precedence.

Regarding the pyramid or main temple of Cerro Culebras, it has a trapezoid-shaped structural base that reaches 2,600 square meters, and where, on one of its terraces, different smaller buildings can be seen. This pyramid has an access route to the top, a staircase made of walls that allows access to an “S” shaped passageway.

Regarding the areas intended to be residential areas, evidence of murals has also been found in these, although smaller in size than in the pyramid. Terrace and platform areas are also observed in these constructions. Regarding the buildings where people lived permanently, these were made of simpler materials, such as reeds founded in ditches.

Along with the previous constructions and findings, the presence of burials was also discovered in Cerro Culebras, including one that differs from the traditional ones of the Lima culture, and in which the bone remains of a subject were found in an ulna position. ventrally (or upside down) held by ropes, on a platform made of sticks in the company of ceramic offerings. Regarding the ceramics that accompany the burials, it is important to mention that there is one (in each burial) that has a human shape and that it was possibly a symbolic representation of the subject that was buried.

How to get to Cerro Culebras?

For the interested party to reach Huaca Cerro Culebras, it is necessary to make a trip of a maximum of an hour and a half from Plaza Grau, in Callao, to Cerro Culebras. Admission to the legacy is free of charge, but there are visiting hours between nine in the morning and 6 in the afternoon, every day of the year.

Machu Picchu Travel Tours

Reserve our guided trips to Machu Picchu by contacting our travel experts and you will be closer to completing your adventure:

• Cusco Tours
• Machu Picchu Day Trip
• Sacred Valley to Machu Picchu
• Machu Picchu Peru
• Machu Picchu tours from Lima
• Inti Raymi Festival and Machu Picchu
• Combo Sacred Valley to Machu Picchu

Book Inca Trail Tours 2024

Best Tours in Cusco

Many are the routes that take you to Machu Picchu, but none is like the Inca Trail Tours, the most famous pedestrian path in the Americas. After flying from the capital of Perú, Lima, you will arrive in Cusco to walk for four days along a path through forests and dense fog, millenary stone steps and discovering the ruins of ancient fortifications and Inca cities, and all the time enjoying majestic views.

• Salkantay Trek to Machu Picchu 5 days
• Hiking the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu 5 days
• Inca Quarry Trail 4 Days
• 2 Day Inca Trail Tour
• 2 Day Inca Trail with Camping
• 3 Day Inca Trail
• Vilcabamba Hike to Machu Picchu 6 days
• Choquequirao trek to Machu Picchu 9 days
• Ausangate trek 7 days

If you want to visit Machu Picchu, we recommend you to book your Machu Picchu Ticket in advance, so you will enjoy your Vacation in Machu Picchu without any problem.