La Leche Valley Pampa Geoglyphs (Lambayeque)
Bosque de Pómac Pampa Lines · Túcume Pampa Geoglyphs
Middle Horizon to Late Intermediate (Sicán / Lambayeque)·Sicán / Lambayeque·🇵🇪 Lambayeque Region, Ferreñafe Province, Pítipo District, Peru
About
About La Leche Valley Pampa Geoglyphs (Lambayeque)
Seasonal desert pampa (85 m) in lower La Leche basin (6°00′-6°40′S 79°10′-80°00′W) between the Sican capital Batan Grande and Túcume adobe pyramids, georeferenced by UNESCO tentative 6419 (Ceremonial Centers and Forests in the La Leche Valley). Pampa bears 18 geoglyphs: 40-110 m lines, 30 m rectilinear enclosures and 8-15 m mound-related circles on relict alluvial fan, formed by clearing aeolian sand to expose pedogenic caliche. Associated Sicán (Lambayeque 800-1375 CE) mining-metallurgy transect (Zaña-La Leche) documented by Shimada: geoglyph termini contain Sicán copper slag and llama caravan phalanges.
Bosque de Pómac carob forest (Sanctuary) borders field, buffering from La Leche flood control works (Ponce EIA). Threatened by Mocupe sugar expansion.
Why it mattersOnly Sicán-linked desert geoglyph field, coupling mining caravan and forest sanctuary.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Copper slag ritual vs discard
Theories
- 01Smelter pilgrimage avenue
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.800-1375 CE (Sicán) with earlier Formative traces
- Period
- Middle Horizon to Late Intermediate (Sicán / Lambayeque)
- Culture
- Sicán / Lambayeque
- Builders
- La Leche Sican desert caravaneers
- Purpose
- Mining caravan wayfinding between highland copper sources and Batan Grande smelters
- Abandoned
- c.1375 CE (Sicán collapse)
- Rediscovered
- 2018 Bosque de Pómac buffer survey
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
900
Sican surge and pampa line cutting
6419
UNESCO tentative listing La Leche Valley
On the ground
Structures & features
6.3500° S · 79.7500° W · 85 m · 2 mapped features
La Leche Sicán Slag Cairn Line
geoglyph110-m line ending in copper slag cairn
6.3480° S · 79.7520° WPómac Carob Edge Enclosure
earthwork30-m rectilinear enclosure at forest margin
6.3520° S · 79.7480° W