Pachacamac

The dialogue in Peru has been everything so far. With Lima’s rich history, beautiful architecture, and incomparable prices on things, it’s hard to be dissatisfied. Classes at El Sol are going well and I’m really enjoying the opportunity to improve my Spanish. Our main activity for today was a trip to Pachacamac – an ancient archaeological site south of Lima. It was an ancient city named after the worshipping god, Pacha Kamaq which is Quechua for Earth Maker. Here, the ancient people of Pachacamac were said to be very religious. It is evident through the many burial sites, sacred sanctuaries, pyramids, and temples found throughout Pachacamac. Of the many temples, three are considered famous: The Painted Temple, the Temple of the Sun, and the Old Temple of Pachacamac.

For me, the most interesting of the three was the Temple of the Sun. It’s a very eerie site with a lot of brutal history behind it. The Temple of the Sun was a sacred site used to sacrifice women and children in order to please the god of sun. Fathers would choose one of their sons and carry them up to the temple in a ritualistic sort of way. At the top, he would sacrifice his son to the sun god. Women were sacrificed on a higher level where they would be strangled and hung as they would be wrapped and buried away in cloth with sometimes jewelry, masks, dogs, and other objects. Pachacamac is an amazing archaeological site and only a small portion of the civilization has been uncovered. The uncovered ancient city stretches for miles across dessert. Hopefully one day, archaeologists will uncover the entire secret society of Pachacamac.