Cusichaca River (possibly from Quechua ''kusi'' delight, joy, happiness / merry, joyful, content, happy, ''chaka'' bridge, "joy bridge", or ''k'usi'' a cucurbit species, a small zucchini or '' Cucurbita pepo'', "zucchini (or ''Cucurbita pepo'') bridge"), is a river in

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

located in the

Cusco Region Cusco, also spelled Cuzco (; qu, Qusqu suyu ), is a department and region in Peru and is the fourth largest department in the country, after Madre de Dios, Ucayali, and Loreto. It borders the departments of Ucayali on the north; Madre de D ...

Urubamba Province Urubamba Province is one of thirteen provinces in the Cusco Region in the southern highlands of Peru. Geography The province is bounded to the north by the La Convención Province, to the east by the Calca Province, to the south by the Cusco Pr ...

, on the border of the districts Machupicchu and Ollantaytambo. Its waters flow to the Vilcanota River. Cusichaca River originates in the Vilcabamba mountain range east of the mountain

Salcantay Salcantay, Salkantay or Sallqantay (in Quechua) is the highest peak in the Vilcabamba mountain range, part of the Peruvian Andes. It is located in the Cusco Region, about west-northwest of the city of Cusco. It is the 38th-highest peak in the ...

, south of the Paljay and southwest of the Huayanay. Its direction is mainly to the northeast along the villages Pampacahuana, Churo, Paucarcancha, Ranrapata and Incachimpa. Some of its little affluents are Llullucha River from the left and Churomayo and Quesjamayo from the right. Shortly before the Cusichaca River meets the Vilcanota River it flows along the archaeological site

Patallacta Patallacta (possibly from Quechua ''pata'' elevated place / above, at the top / edge, bank (of a river), shore, ''llaqta'' place (village, town, city, country, nation), "settlement on a platform" pronounced "pahta-yakta"), Llactapata or Q'ente ...

. The confluence of the rivers is between the villages Qoriwayrachina and Pichanuyoc or Pinchaunuyoc. The Cusichaca valley is an archaeologically important region in Peru, significant for the evidence that it has provided of Inca civilization. It was an agriculturally important part of the

Inca empire The Inca Empire (also known as the Incan Empire and the Inka Empire), called ''Tawantinsuyu'' by its subjects, (Quechua for the "Realm of the Four Parts", "four parts together" ) was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The admin ...

. The valley has been the subject of intensive archaeological study over many years under the direction of Dr. Ann Kendall O.B.E., of the Cusichaca Trust. Since its inception the trust has evolved and now also works with highland farming communities in the rehabilitation of abandoned systems of irrigation canals and agricultural terraces, along with the revitalization of other traditional technologies. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s numerou
archaeological volunteers
from Britain, Peru, N. America and other countries worked on the Cusichaca Project and as a result it is one of the most comprehensively studied areas of Peru

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cusichaca River Rivers of Peru Archaeological sites in Cusco Region Archaeological sites in Peru Rivers of Cusco Region qu:Kusichaka mayu

See also

References