Huaca Pucllana
Huaca Juliana · Pucllana
Early Intermediate Lima (200–700 CE) with Middle Horizon Wari intrusive 500–700 CE·Lima (Ichma predecessor of Pachacamac) with Huari (Wari) superstructure·🇵🇪 Lima – Miraflores district, Peru
About
About Huaca Pucllana
Seven-storey adobe pyramid (500×100 m, 25 m high) in Miraflores, Lima, built bookcase-style (small vertical adobe bricks placed on edge like books) to resist earthquakes, with Wari cemetery above. Center of Lima culture (200–700 CE) with elite plazas, banquetas, offering pits of shark and pregnant women sacrifices, and beach-fish cosmology. 70 m extended wall ramp, architectural model Wari 500–700 overlay. Excavated 1981–present by Isabel Flores Espinoza; night-lit pyramid is city icon amidst Pacific district.
Why it mattersOnly urban intact pyramid in Lima metropolis; exemplifies earthquake-adaptive adobe technology and Lima–Wari contact zone interpretive key.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Why Lima architects placed tiny adobes vertically in ‘books’ – earthquake resilience known or accidental
- 02Why Wari would reuse Lima sacred pyramid rather than build own – conquest vs peace
Theories
- 01Library technique as deliberate anti-seismic damping – Japanese KyoTo shake-table tested model 2010 proving 20% greater strength
- 02Pucllana as Lima elite shark-cult ceremonial stage where female shamans enacted sea-vs-shore drama
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c.400–700 CE; pyramid phases 5th–7th century CE
- Period
- Early Intermediate Lima (200–700 CE) with Middle Horizon Wari intrusive 500–700 CE
- Culture
- Lima (Ichma predecessor of Pachacamac) with Huari (Wari) superstructure
- Purpose
- Administrative and ceremonial pyramid with shamanic offering and burial complex
- Excavation
- Excavation ongoing
c.400–700 CE; pyramid phases 5th–7th century CE
Initial construction
c. 1535 CE
Rediscovery
On the ground
Structures & features
12.1115° S · 77.0332° W · 45 m · 3 mapped features
Seven-storey pyramid summit
pyramidTop platform with Lima priest houses
12.1113° S · 77.0330° WOffering plaza and pits
plazaShark and textile offering courts west side
12.1118° S · 77.0335° WRestored Wari tombs
cemeteryWari intrusive burial zone south
12.1120° S · 77.0338° W
Gallery