Puruchuco Palace
Puruchuco–Huaquerones
Late Intermediate to Late Horizon Lima Ychsma–Inca 1200–1532·Ychsma–Inca·🇵🇪 Lima, Ate Vitarte, Peru
About
About Puruchuco Palace
Coastal Lima–Ishmay–Inca palace-administrative center (1200–1532 CE) on Rimac alluvial fan with well-preserved tapia (rammed earth) palace complex 200×100 m, pyramidal ushnu and cemetery of 1,000+ burials with the Coton woven. Exhibits Ychsma to Inca architectural phases: fieldstone pyramid, tapia walls, Inca ashlar niche. 1953-60 Jiménez Borja restoration; still contrasts among Lima sprawl. Mummies with false-head fardos.
Why it mattersBest-preserved coastal tapia palace illustrating Lima Rimac valley Ychsma to Inca administrative succession before Pizarro.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Puruchuco kuraka lineage vs Inca reoccupation evidence
- 02Tapia dating Ishmay vs Inca construction phase
Theories
- 01Coastal tapia as desert-adapted mass-wall chronology
- 02Cemetery as kuraka genealogy display vs Inca resettlement
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.1200–1532 CE (Ishma to Inca)
- Period
- Late Intermediate to Late Horizon Lima Ychsma–Inca 1200–1532
- Culture
- Ychsma–Inca
- Builders
- Ychsma later Inca
- Purpose
- Coastal administrative palace and cemetery of Rimac kuraka
- Excavation
- Excavated
c.1200–1532 CE (Ishma to Inca)
Initial construction
c. 1468 CE
Abandonment
On the ground
Structures & features
12.0525° S · 76.9375° W · 350 m · 2 mapped features
Puruchuco Palace central feature
featureMain architectural feature
12.0525° S · 76.9375° WPuruchuco Palace secondary sector
sectorSecondary sector
12.0515° S · 76.9365° W
Gallery