Caballo Muerto is an archaeological complex located on the northern coast of

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = National seal , national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...

, in the

Moche Valley The Valley of Moche, or ''Valley of Santa Catalina,'' is a large area of the La Libertad Region in northern Peru surrounding the Moche River. It has been farmed since the pre-Columbian era and currently contains rural and urban settlements. Truj ...

, in the Laredo District of

La Libertad Region La Libertad (; in English: ''The Liberty'') is a region in northwestern Peru. Formerly it was known as the Department of La Libertad ('). It is bordered by the Lambayeque, Cajamarca and Amazonas regions on the north, the San Martín Region on t ...

. It represents a series of mound sites that span both the Initial Period (2100–1200 CAL B.C.) and the

Early Horizon This is a chart of cultural periods of Peru and the Andean Region developed by John Rowe and Edward Lanning and used by some archaeologists studying the area. An alternative dating system was developed by Luis Lumbreras and provides different dat ...

(1200–200 CAL B.C.). This site became prominent during the period of the

Cupisnique The Cupisnique culture was a pre-Columbian indigenous culture that flourished from c. 1500 to 500 BC along what now is Peru's northern Pacific coast. The culture had a distinctive style of adobe clay architecture. Artifacts of the culture share ar ...

culture. It includes about a dozen architectural sites built upon interlocking platforms. One of them is the important site of the Huaca de los Reyes. It has been declared as belonging to the Cultural Heritage of Peru by the Decree No. 999 of 4 October 2001.

Location

The site is located in the middle sector of the Moche valley on the north shore of the river Moche, about 3 km NE of

Laredo, Trujillo Laredo is the city capital of Laredo District located 9 km from Trujillo, in La Libertad Region, Peru. History The population of Laredo grew and the authorities asked President Alan Garcia to enact Law No. 25253, which was passed on June 1 ...

and about 20 km from the city of

Trujillo, Peru , population_note = , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 13001 , area_code = 044 , website Municipality of Trujillo, footnotes ...

. It covers 600 hectares where an estimated two thousand people lived.

Discovery and studies

Caballo Muerto was discovered in 1972 by archeologist

Michael E. Moseley Michael Edward Moseley is an American anthropologist at the University of Florida. Early life Moseley received his Bachelor of Arts in anthropology from the University of California, Berkeley in 1963, and his Master of Arts and Ph.D. in an ...

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of highe ...

, then director of the

Chan Chan Chan Chan was the largest city of the pre-Columbian era in South America. It is now an archaeological site in La Libertad Region west of Trujillo, Peru. Chan Chan is located in the mouth of the Moche Valley and was the capital of the historic ...

-Moche Valley Project. Other archaeologists working on the project include Luis Watanabe (1972), Thomas G. Pozorski (1973-1974), and Jorge Ruiz Barcellos.

Timeline

It is believed that the site was occupied from 1500 to 400 BC and belongs to the Middle Formative period. Among the contemporary sites in the other valleys of the northern coast of Peru are Limoncarro in Jequetepeque, Cerro Blanco in Nepeña District of

Ancash Region Ancash ( qu, Anqash; es, Áncash ) is a department and region in northern Peru. It is bordered by the departments of La Libertad on the north, Huánuco and Pasco on the east, Lima on the south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. Its capital i ...

, Pallka in

Casma Valley The Casma River, which upstream is called Río Grande, is a river that crosses northern Casma province in the Ancash Region of Peru. It originates in the Black Mountain Range and drains into the Pacific Ocean. Major tributaries include the Sec ...

, Santa Lucia in

Lambayeque Region Lambayeque () is a department and region in northwestern Peru known for its rich Moche and Chimú historical past. The region's name originates from the ancient pre- Inca civilization of the '' Lambayeque''. It is the second-smallest departm ...

, and Ñañañique in

Piura Region Piura () is a coastal department and region in northwestern Peru. The region's capital is Piura and its largest port cities, Paita and Talara, are also among the most important in Peru. The area is known for its tropical and dry beaches. It ...

. In the northern highlands, the related sites are Huacaloma,

Kuntur Wasi Kuntur Wasi (Quechua ''kuntur'' condor, ''wasi'' house, "condor house") is the name given to the ruins of a religious center with complex architecture and stone sculptures, located in the Andean highlands of Peru. It is believed the inhabitant ...

(both near

Cajamarca Cajamarca (), also known by the Quechua name, ''Kashamarka'', is the capital and largest city of the Cajamarca Region as well as an important cultural and commercial center in the northern Andes. It is located in the northern highlands of Peru ...

), and

Pacopampa Pacopampa ( qu, paqu pampa) is an archaeological site located in the northern highlands of Peru, in the department of Cajamarca Region, Cajamarca. It presents the remains of a monumental ceremonial center, made with cut and polished stone. It be ...

Description

The archaeological complex of Caballo Muerto features stone and adobe constructions, with mud used as mortar. It consists of a dozen ceremonial buildings on constructed platforms, among them the Huaca de los Reyes. Several of these buildings exhibit a "U-shaped" layout that is common for Cupisnique sites. The walls are decorated with reliefs depicting snakes, cats and other images. Apart from the Huaca de los Reyes, there are the following constructions: * Huaca Herederos * Huaca Partida * Huaca La Virgen * Huaca La Cruz * Huaca San Carlos * Huaca Guabalito * Huaca Curaca, etc. The estimated volume of material (stone and silty clay) used for the six Early Formative Caballo Muerto Complex mounds is about 510,000 cubic meters; construction took place over a period of about 500 years.

Huaca Herederos

Huaca Herederos Chica is a monumental site that is part of the Caballo Muerto Complex. This mound was excavated from 1970 to 1973, and is now partially destroyed. It represents a superposition of several phases of occupation and building over some 1000 years period—each phase separated by phases of abandonment. Some of the architectural elements here are similar to those of the

Kotosh Religious Tradition The Kotosh Religious Tradition is a term used by archaeology, archaeologists to refer to the ritual buildings that were constructed in the mountain drainages of the Andes between circa 3000 and c. 1800 BCE, during the Andean preceramic, or Late Ar ...

at the highland sites of

La Galgada (archaeological site) The archaeological site of La Galgada in Peru is an example of a ceremonial monument built within the Kotosh Religious Tradition during the preceramic, or Late Archaic period of Andean history. The site itself is located on the eastern bank of t ...

and Huaricoto as well as in the coastal

. Huaca Herederos Chica was abandoned from 1200–400 CAL B.C. only to be reoccupied and rebuilt in the late Early Horizon (400–200 CAL B.C.).

Huaca de los Reyes

The most important and well studied in this area is the site of Huaca de los Reyes, showing a very complex structure with a "U-shaped" layout. It also includes overlapping platforms featuring access stairs, with plazas and

hypostyle hall In architecture, a hypostyle () hall has a roof which is supported by columns. Etymology The term ''hypostyle'' comes from the ancient Greek ὑπόστυλος ''hypóstȳlos'' meaning "under columns" (where ὑπό ''hypó'' means below or un ...

s. The site includes friezes, as well as the giant heads constructed of clay representing characters with feline features, similar to Chavin style, yet preceding the Chavin chronologically.

Economy

The economy of the inhabitants of Caballo Muerto was based on the use of irrigated land reclaimed from the desert. Irrigation canals were constructed. The proteins were obtained from land animals like deer; later, llamas were consumed. The people of Caballo Muerto, belonging to the Cupisnique culture, were the direct ancestors of the great Moche civilization.

Notes

References

*Translated from Spanish Wikipedia

Bibliography

* Kauffmann Doig, Federico: ''Historia y arte del Perú antiguo''. Tomo 2, p. 210. Lima, Ediciones PEISA, 2002. * Kaulicke, Peter: ''El Perú Antiguo I''. Los períodos arcaico y formativo, pp. 60–61. Colección Historia del Perú, editada por la Empresa Editora El Comercio S.A. Lima, 2010. * Silva Sifuentes, Jorge E. T.: ''Origen de las civilizaciones andinas'', pp. 103–104. Incluida en la ''Historia del Perú''. Lima, Lexus Editores, 2000. * Williams, Carlos: ''Arquitectura y urbanismo en el antiguo Perú'' Incluida en “Historia del Perú”, Tomo VIII, Perú Republicano y procesos e instituciones, pp. 424–428. Lima, Editorial Mejía Baca, 1980. {{Coord, -8.0712, -78.9104, display=title Archaeological sites in Peru Cupisnique culture Archaeological sites in La Libertad Region