Cerro Baúl

Cerro Baúl
Cerro Baúl
Shown within Peru
LocationMoquegua, Peru
RegionMoquegua
Coordinates17°6′43.614″S 70°51′31.716″W / 17.11211500°S 70.85881000°W / -17.11211500; -70.85881000
History
Abandonedapproximately A. D. 1475
CulturesWari culture
EventsConquered by:
The Inca army
Site notes
Excavation dates1989, 1993, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2002, 2004, and 2006-7, 2010, 2012
ArchaeologistsRobert Pritzker, Donna Nash, Patrick Ryan Williams, Johny Isla, Michael E. Moseley, Nicola Sharratt, Robert Feldman
Architecture
Architectural stylesWari
Architectural detailsNumber of temples: two

Cerro Baúl (Spanish: Cerro "hill", Spanish: 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 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's being vacated.