ARCHEOLOGICAL SITE LAS ALDAS

"LAS ALDAS" ARCHEOLOGICAL COMPLEX
SCALE MODEL CASMA REGIONAL MUSEUM

LOCATION

It is at Km. 345, North Pan-American Highway, by the Seaside; close by is the Tourist Camp "Las Aldas' and the fishermen's cove La Gramita.

The Aldas is another archaeological site in the province of Casma, better studied together with Sechin by Rosa Fung, Japanese Expedition, Terence Grieder and others.

It occupies a large area, where they erected buildings built with stones and mud mortar, taking advantage of a rocky elevation and a desertic pampa, conserving valuable testimony for various periods of national archaeology.

"LAS ALDAS" ARCHEOLOGICAL COMPLEX

The most important building of the site is formed by a central body and two side ones, made up of staggered platforms that rise from the bottom to the top of the hill, and South- Northeast oriented, while a central staircase solves the slopes to reach the temple at the top, now almost destroyed.

From this point, a cliff projects itself onto the edge of the beach, where the panoramic view of the sea, caught in its immensity and natural strength produces an intimate feeling of exhilaration and surprise. This allows understanding the close linkage of the monument to sea and nature; for the intent was to bring the man to the summit, to contemplate the spectacle of an impetuous sea and its environment.

Panoramic View of Tourist Camping "Las Aldas" and the creek of fishermen "La Gramita".

CREEK OF FISHERMEN "LA GRAMITA"

But before starting the climb there are three large public squares, the closest to the building has an ovoid semi-sunken well, with two front stairs to descend to the center.

The lateral bodies have the same constructive pattern, the North's side also having a small circular hole.

The stepped pyramids at the foot of the above and around the squares subtly differ from the architectural pattern.

The houses made of pebbles are distributed throughout the area and barely visible, being buried with sand. Southeast of the site is easy to discover the stone quarry but the unsolved mystery is how they managed to get water for consumption and the colossal construction, because it was inhabited by many centuries.

The site shows the creative strength and entrepreneurial spirit of Andean men, who in a desert and next to the sea, built so important a ceremonial center, surrounded by several nearby villages providing the livelihood of same, using marine resources and interchanging with farmers in the basin of Casma, as other neighbouring valleys, in order to adequately feed its population: apart from the vast amount of marine waste, there is evidence of plant debris, textiles, ceramics, etc..

The Aldas was occupied from 5000 years ago until the Chimu era, ie, is a center previous to Chavin and one of the most interesting of American archaeology.

Source: Series Arqueologica N? 12

Page translated by courtesy of: Carlos Dextre.

TOURIST CAMPING "LAS ALDAS"

TOURIST CAMPING "LAS ALDAS"
lasaldas@terra.com.pe
http://barrioperu.terra.com.pe/lasaldas

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