Huaca Pucllana

Alpaca (native to Peru)

Elijah (not native to Peru)

Maggie & some pre-Colombian artifacts

Sue petting the hairless Peruvian dog (very rare...and very ugly)

part of the pyramid where the Lima culture (approx. 400 AD) performed religious rituals

part of the original adobe wall at the site -- bricks were oriented vertically to increase stability against earthquakes

the pyramid


From Eric...

Today (Saturday) we visited a really interesting archaeological site in Lima called Huaca Pucllana. It is a pre-Colombian site (began about 400 AD) that was dominated by a large, ceremonial pyramid. The lives of the people who lived in this area were very focused on the sea, with many of the gods they worshipped having to do with the ocean, etc. They also sacrificed young women here. We visited a small but nice museum (working our way through the explanatinos in spanish) and then heard the welcome words "English tour will begin over here...." -- we rushed over there, of course. We learned a bit about the culture and about the construction of the pyramid, which was interesting.

They also had examples of some of the plants and animals which were native to the area and time of these people (called the Lima culture). One of the strange beasts was the hairless Peruvian dog. It was indeed without hair -- it looked a bit like a cross between a rhino and a hyena (check out the picture of Sue "petting" it, if you can pet something like this...). We heard Carolyn say "now I really miss Indy!" (fleas and all, although now that we think about it, a hairless dog would be neater although kind of creepy) Overall it was a fun trip.