Cerro Baul, Torata, Moquegua - panoramio

Cerro Baúl ( es, Cerro "hill", es, Baúl "trunk" (i.e. a place to store treasured items)) is an ancient political outpost and ceremonial center settlement in Peru established by the pre-Incan empire called the Wari. Cerro Baúl is a

terraced In agriculture, a terrace is a piece of sloped plane that has been cut into a series of successively receding flat surfaces or platforms, which resemble steps, for the purposes of more effective farming. This type of landscaping is therefore ...

mountain, 2000 feet above its surroundings, with a settlement on the cliff tops themselves and in the immediate surroundings. Among other finds are the remnants of a brewery and large buildings that may have been used for ceremonial feasting. There is evidence of damage that has been interpreted as a careful and deliberate destruction, by the city's own people, of several buildings prior to the

mesa A mesa is an isolated, flat-topped elevation, ridge or hill, which is bounded from all sides by steep escarpments and stands distinctly above a surrounding plain. Mesas characteristically consist of flat-lying soft sedimentary rocks capped by a ...

's being vacated. Wari-Tiahuanaco

Description of site

The summit of Cerro Baúl is located in the

Moquegua Moquegua (, founded by the Spanish colonists as Villa de Santa Catalina de Guadalcázar del Valle de Moquegua) is a city in southern Peru, located in the Department of Moquegua, of which it is the capital. It is also capital of Mariscal Nieto P ...

Valley. Both Cerro Baúl and the adjacent Cerro Mejia were under Wari control. The Wari had introduced the agricultural technology of terracing the mountainside and digging long canals across the land. A 6.2 mile canal was built from the Torata River through the El Paso Divide between Cerro Baúl and Cerro Mejia, where it split to irrigate the terraces that flanked both hills.Nash, D. J. and Williams, P. R. (2004), "Architecture and Power on the Wari–Tiwanaku Frontier. Archeological Papers of the American Anthropological Association, 14: 151–174. doi:10.1525/ap3a.2004.14.151 Also along the terraced slopes we find the homes of the majority of the center's citizens.Williams, Patrick, Michael Moseley, and Donna Nash
"Empires of the Andes."
Cerro Baúl. Accessed December 5, 2015. At the top of the mountain we find the public and elite living spaces. There are two D-shaped temples, in the Wari style, on the eastern and middle sections of the site. Also along the eastern side are one-story domiciles similar to the ones along the terraces. These are considered to be the

artisan An artisan (from french: artisan, it, artigiano) is a skilled craft worker who makes or creates material objects partly or entirely by hand. These objects may be functional or strictly decorative, for example furniture, decorative art ...

residence area by archaeologists. The central sector seems to be the ceremonial core, while the western sector comprises the two story dwellings of the elite. Sprinkled throughout this city we find the most common architectural form used by the Wari civilization, which is an enclosed plaza flanked by impressive stone halls. The halls included residences of governors and wealthy citizens, government offices, and beer houses for state-held parties. Cerro Baul, Torata, Moquegua - panoramio (1)

Cerro Baul, Torata, Moquegua - panoramio (1)

Asociación Contisuyo

Asociación Contisuyo (in

Quechua Quechua may refer to: *Quechua people, several indigenous ethnic groups in South America, especially in Peru *Quechuan languages, a Native South American language family spoken primarily in the Andes, derived from a common ancestral language **So ...

: ''Kunti Suyu''), literally translated to Association "Bias West or West Region", is an assemblage of Peruvian and American scholars with interests in the mapping and excavation of Cerro Baúl. Founded in 1981 directors Robert Pritzker and Dr. Michael Moseley, then of The Field Museum of Natural History combined their resources with the

Southern Peru Copper Corporation Southern Copper Corporation is a mining company that was founded in 1952. The current incarnation of Southern Copper can be traced to the 2005 acquisition of Southern Peru Copper Corporation by the Mexican copper producer Minera México. 88.9 p ...

to further their research at Cerro Baúl. Prior to the first excavations it was believed that the Wari civilization had obtained the area subsequent to

Tiwanaku Tiwanaku ( es, Tiahuanaco or ) is a Pre-Columbian archaeological site in western Bolivia near Lake Titicaca, about 70 kilometers from La Paz, and it is one of the largest sites in South America. Surface remains currently cover around 4 square kilo ...

control; however, it is now known from archaeological artifacts found in the area, such as ''kero'' (a ceremonial cup), in the hybrid styles of both Wari and Tiwanaku, that they had occupied the areas at the same time. It is believed that the two cultures employed the close space rather peacefully, as there is no evidence of warfare and evidence of shared culture and styles from about A.D. 600 to 1020. The scholars, armed with the annals of a Spanish chronicler and two seasons of excavations, were able to find evidence that supported the Inca siege and capture of the Wari political outpost.

Wari political outpost and ceremonial center

The Wari ( es, Huari) culture of Peru in the Middle Horizon period (400 AD-1000 AD) was one of several Andean cultures before the rise of the

Inca 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 adm ...

that can be termed "empires." They were not just city states, but actually exerted their influence over neighboring groups (or subjugated them). The Wari area of influence lay in what is now the central highlands of Peru and their area of influence overlapped that of another culture, the Tiwanaku. The Wari made their bold thrust into the Tiwanaku area of control by seizing both Cerro Baúl and the adjacent Cerro Mejia. By terracing and irrigating the areas for the sustainment of the city's populace, they managed to make the Tiwanaku at least partially dependent on their society as the water streaming from the mountain rainstorms had to pass by a Wari canal before it reached Tiwanaku fields. The relationship, however, seemed to be some positive interaction between the two peoples as seen in the Tiwanaku-style drinking vessel used in ceremonies that was among the Wari's most sacred ceremonial offerings found at the site. With the demise of the Wari and Tiwanaku civilizations, the people of the

Chiribaya culture The Chiribaya culture flourished near the coast of southern Peru and adjacent Chile from 700 CE until Spanish settlement in the late 16th century. The classic phase of the Chiribaya culture was from 1000 CE until 1360 CE. The Chiribaya culture co ...

lived in the area until they were conquered or colonized by the Inca.

Inca siege and conquest

What we know of the Inca siege comes from Spanish chronicler Garcilaso de la Vega and is supported by excavations by the Programa Contisuyo. The Wari people were blockaded within their city by the surrounding Inca army for 54 days. During this time their people were without water and little food; finally in despair they sent their children down to the Inca in hopes for mercy. The Inca were reported to have received the children with kindness, fed them, and sent them back up the mountains with some supplies for their people. The final evacuation of the center enclave was accompanied by elaborate ceremonies with brewing, drinking, feasting vessel smashing and building burning. The Wari surrendered unconditionally to the Inca around A.D. 1475.

Today

In current times, Cerro Baúl is a place of worship for the local Moqueguanos (inhabitants of

moˈkeɣwa/ a city founded by the Spanish colonists in southern Peru, located in the Moquegua Region, of which it is the capital) to offer ''pagapus'' (payment) to the Andean deities in the form of coca, candles and

chicha ''Chicha'' is a fermented (alcoholic) or non-fermented beverage of Latin America, emerging from the Andes and Amazonia regions. In both the pre- and post- Spanish conquest periods, corn beer ('' chicha de jora'') made from a variety of maize ...

, to list a few. Tourism is also available to this site."Cerro Baúl: Home to Peru's ancestors in Moquegua"
, Living in Peru, 15 July 2015.

References

External links

'Beer diplomacy' practiced in ancient empire’s dying days, artifacts reveal Wari beer diplomacy.

National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly the ''National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as NAT GEO) is a popular American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. Known for its photojournalism, it is one of the most widel ...

news, Published April 18, 2019 {{DEFAULTSORT:Cerro Baul Former populated places in Peru