Bandurria — Main Pyramid Mound
Late Preceramic (Norte Chico), c.3200–2900 BCE·Norte Chico (Caral–Bandurria)·🇵🇪 Lima Region, Huaura Province, Huacho, Peru
About
About Bandurria — Main Pyramid Mound
Main pyramid at Bandurria (c.3200–2900 BCE, Late Preceramic Norte Chico), 12 m high, 70 × 40 m base quadrangular platform with subrectangular sunken court 15 × 13 m. Contrasts with Caral; A. Chu 2005-10 documented early monumentalism without pottery. Coastal irrigated settlement with fishing. Part of El Paraíso valley near Huacho.
Why it mattersProves Bandurria pre-dates Caral slightly; dispute first Andean pyramid center.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Bandurria vs Caral chronological primacy
Theories
- 01Two focal hubs maritime vs inland Norte Chico
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.3200 BCE
- Period
- Late Preceramic (Norte Chico), c.3200–2900 BCE
- Culture
- Norte Chico (Caral–Bandurria)
- Builders
- Preceramic fishermen-farmers
- Purpose
- Communal pyramid — ritual platform with sunken court, early Norte Chico public architecture
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
c.3200 BCE
Initial construction / foundation
c.800 CE
Major refurbishment / enlargement phase
c.1100 CE
Abandonment or conversion
1890–1930
Modern rediscovery and first scientific survey
On the ground
Structures & features
11.1920° S · 77.5830° W · 45 m · 2 mapped features
Sunken rectangular court — stone walls and stair
plazaRectangular sunken court 15 × 13 m aligned on pyramid axis with niche stair
11.1919° S · 77.5829° WNorthern residential sector middens
middenDomestic middens of anchoveta and cotton north of pyramid
11.1921° S · 77.5831° W