The Chachapoyas culture inhabited the southeast of the bracamoros, on the right bank of the Marañón River. Its development was centered in the Utcubamba valley, a place name that can be translated as 'utcu territory (holes or caves). They probably extended south to the Abiseo, a source of the Huallaga, where the citadel of Pajatén stands.
Cieza de León wrote some notes about this civilization:
«They are the whitest and most graceful of all those I have seen in the Indies that I have traveled to, and their women were so beautiful that because they were so, and because of their kindness, many of them deserved to belong to the Incas and be taken to the temples of the sun. […] they and their husbands are dressed in woolen clothes and they used to wear llautos on their heads, which are a sign they wear to be known everywhere.”
Discovery of the Chachapoyas Culture
Kuélap or Cuélap is an important pre-Inca archaeological site located in the northeastern Andes of Peru. On a day like today, but in 1843, Crisóstomo Nieto, judge of First Instance of Chachapoyas, discovered Kuelap, located 3 thousand meters above sea level, in Tingo, Luya province, Amazonas Region, 72 km away.
Development of the Chachapoyas culture
The Chachapoyas culture developed between 800 AD. and 1570 AD. in northeastern Peru. It developed throughout the Amazonas region, one of the 24 departments that, in addition to the Constitutional Province of Callao, make up Peruvian territory. This is located in the northwest section of our country, in the jungle. This space is located at an intersection formed by the pass between the western Andes and the eastern jungle, most of which is covered by steep mountains and impenetrable jungles. This peculiar location is the cause of the varied climate observed in its territory.
The archaeological and excavatory studies carried out in Kuelap have determined that the inhabitants of this culture began their settlement in the Early Intermediate period, approximately in the year 400 BC, until the year 1570 AD. The architectural splendor took place in the Late Intermediate period, during the 900s AD until 1475 AD, the time when most of the structures seen today on the surface of Kuelap were built. The splendor of this culture is cut short by two very distinct stages: the Inca conquest of the region and the consequent Spanish occupation, both short and totally devastating.
Already in the year 1570, Kuélap was completely abandoned, when the then Viceroy Toledo implemented the policy of Indian reductions, this generated the displacement of indigenous communities which fled en masse from their ancestral territories to new settlements.
What did this pre-Inca culture stand out for?
Architecture
The residential and monumental constructions are circular with high bases, cornices of large stones and flat stones protruding above the surface of the bases. They have inclined ramps or stairs, directed toward the entrance. The architectural complexes of Olán, Yalapé, Purunllacta or "Monte Peruvia", Congón (renamed Gran Vilaya), Vira Vira, Pajatén and others. But Kuelap is, without a doubt, one of the greatest monuments of pre-Inca cultures, almost 600 meters long and walls that reach 20 meters high.
Funerary architecture also characterizes the Chachapoyas culture and includes two types of graves: the sarcophagus and the mausoleum. The sarcophagus is an evolution of the funerary bundle that is expressed in mountain and coastal spaces of the Tiahuanaco-Huari times.
Highlights include the Kuelap fortress and the mummies found there and the Carajía Sarcophagi (custom of the Chachapoyas to bury their dead in sarcophagi, coffins whose shape follows the contour of the human figure).
Ceramics
The ceramics of the inhabitants of the Chachapoya culture are characterized by maintaining a simple style, with the details and finishes being quite modest, indicating that these had an almost exclusive purpose for daily use, such as preparing or serving food or liquids. Both the decoration and the workmanship are quite rough, with limited elements as decoration.
Most of the ceramics found are utilitarian, worked with the roll technique or simply forming the clay mass with the fingers. The decoration techniques used were: application, stamping, stippling and incised technique.
Textile
In their textile work they basically used cotton and to a lesser extent llama and alpaca wool. The backstrap loom was the most used. In the Laguna de los Cóndores, good quality textiles have been found that were used to wrap mummies in the time of the Incas.
The Chachapoyas were also excellent weavers, as demonstrated by the finds made on the right bank of the Pisuncho, in Carajía, in the Laguna de las Momias.
Metallurgy
The Chachapoyas were skilled builders, weavers and potters, but apparently they did not work with metals.
Legacy of the Chachapoyas Culture
The Chachapoyas left behind large stone monuments such as the Kuelap fortress, an entire city similar to Machu Picchu, as well as other buildings such as sarcophagi and mausoleums, the most recognized being those of Carajía and Revash, insignia of the archaeological remains of the Chachapoyas.
But it is not only these constructions that they left us as a symbol of their greatness, there are also other sites of tourist interest that shine for their beauty and cultural contribution such as the Cóndores lagoon, the Leymenbama Museum, the Gocta waterfall, among others. others.
The Chachapoyas had great respect for their deceased, they stood out for having two types of burials, the Carajía sarcophagi, individual tombs in human form, and the Revash mausoleums, collective tombs. Both the sarcophagi and the mausoleums are located in the upper part of the mountains.
Best Trekking and Tours in Peru
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 Peru, 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.
- Sacred Valley Bike Tour
- Honeymoon in Machu Picchu
- 1 Day Inca Trail Hike to Machu Picchu
- Sacred Valley Tours
- Lares Trek to Machu Picchu 4 Days
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- Short 2 Day Inca Trail Hike to Machu Picchu
- 2 Day Inca Trail with Camping
- Apu Ausangate Trek 7 days
- 4 Day Jungle Trek to Machu Picchu
- Inca Quarry Trail to Machu Picchu
- Urubamba River Rafting
- 5 Days Salkantay Mountain Trek
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- 7 Lakes Ausangate Trek
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