The Huaca del Sol is an

adobe Adobe ( ; ) is a building material made from earth and organic materials. is Spanish for ''mudbrick''. In some English-speaking regions of Spanish heritage, such as the Southwestern United States, the term is used to refer to any kind of e ...

brick pyramid built by the Moche civilization (100 AD to 800 AD) on the northern coast of what is now

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 ...

. The pyramid is one of several ruins found near the volcanic peak of

Cerro Blanco Cerro Blanco is a hill and historical landmark in the city of Santiago, Chile. This geographic feature rises above the surrounding terrain and covers a surface area of . It is bordered by Recoleta Avenue on the east, Santos Dumont Avenue on ...

, in the coastal desert near Trujillo at the Moche Valley. The other major ruin at the site is the nearby

Huaca de la Luna Huaca de la Luna ("Temple or Shrine of the Moon") is a large adobe brick structure built mainly by the Moche people of northern Peru. Along with the Huaca del Sol, the Huaca de la Luna is part of ''Huacas de Moche'', which is the remai ...

, a better-preserved but smaller temple. By 450 AD, eight different stages of construction had been completed on the Huaca del Sol. The technique was additive; new layers of brick were laid directly on top of the old, hence large quantities of bricks were required for the construction. Archeologists have estimated that the Huaca del Sol was composed of over 130 million adobe bricks and was the largest

pre-Columbian In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era spans from the original settlement of North and South America in the Upper Paleolithic period through European colonization, which began with Christopher Columbus's voyage of 1492. Usually, th ...

adobe structure built in the Americas. The number of different makers' marks on the bricks suggests that over a hundred different communities contributed bricks to the construction of the Huacas. The Huaca del Sol was composed of four main levels. The structure was expanded and rebuilt by different rulers over the course of time. It is believed to have originally been about 50 meters in height and 340 m by 160 m at the base. Located at the center of the Moche capital city, the temple appears to have been used for ritual, ceremonial activities and as a royal residence and burial chambers. Archaeological evidence attests to these functions. During the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

occupation of Peru in the early 17th century, colonists redirected the waters of the

Moche River The Moche River is one of the rivers of the Pacific Ocean slope, located in the northern coast of Peru, in La Libertad Region. On both sides of this river is the millenary Moche Valley. The Moche river goes through east to west the metropolita ...

to run past the base of the Huaca del Sol in order to facilitate the looting of gold artifacts from the temple. The operation of the hydraulic mine greatly damaged the Huaca del Sol. In total, approximately two-thirds of the structure has been lost to erosion and such looting. The remaining structure stands at a height of 41 meters (135 feet). Looting and erosion due to

El Niño El Niño (; ; ) is the warm phase of the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and is associated with a band of warm ocean water that develops in the central and east-central equatorial Pacific (approximately between the International Date L ...

continue to be major concerns to this day.

References

Sources

# ''Art of the Andes, from Chavin to Inca.'' Rebecca Stone-Miller, Thames and Hudson, 1995. # ''The Incas and Their Ancestors: the archaeology of Peru.'' Michael E. Moseley, Thames and Hudson, 1992.

External links

www.huacas.com

Sun and Moon Temples
Official website
Huaca del Sol placemarks
Google Earth .kmz {{authority control Moche sites Moche culture Adobe buildings and structures Archaeological sites in Trujillo, Peru Museums in Peru Archaeological museums in Peru Archaeological sites in Peru

See also

References

Sources

External links