Huaca Pucllana Pyramid — Lima Adobe
Huaca Pucllana · Pucllana Pyramid
Middle Horizon, c.500-700 CE (Lima to Wari, Middle Horizon)·Andean (Lima / Wari)·🇵🇪 Lima Metropolitan, Peru
About
About Huaca Pucllana Pyramid — Lima Adobe
Huaca Pucllana (Huaca Juliana) in Miraflores, Lima: stepped pyramid 22 m high, 7 platforms made of vertical adobe books (librero technique) — adobitos stacked vertically for seismic resistance. Excavated by Isabel Flores Espinoza 1981– (Pucllana project): Lima culture (500-700 CE) platform with patios and Wari tombs (Wari influx c.700 CE) including sacrificed sharks. Ceramics link to Huaca Huallamarca. Urban park within Miraflores highly visited. Demonstrates Lima-Wari transition and seismic adobe engineering.
Why it mattersKey Andean (Lima / Wari) pyramid with stratified sequence and regional importance.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Why vertical librero adobitos technique uniquely effective for seismic zone
- 02Shark burials — ritual or Wari elite display
Theories
- 01Pucllana as Lima capital (500-700 CE) then Wari conquest/assimilation layer preserved (700-800 CE)
- 02Librero as seismic innovation prefiguring later Inca rope technique
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.500 CE (Lima culture, later Wari reoccupation)
- Period
- Middle Horizon, c.500-700 CE (Lima to Wari, Middle Horizon)
- Culture
- Andean (Lima / Wari)
- Builders
- Andean (Lima
- Purpose
- Seven-platform adobe pyramid in Miraflores Lima (22 m high): Lima culture monumental center with vertical adobe technique (librero), Wari tombs and shark burials
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
c.500 CE
Platform I — Lima pyramids begun, librero technique
c.700 CE
Wari reoccupation — tombs and shark offerings
c.800 CE
Abandonment after Wari-Tiwanaku collapse
1981
Flores Espinoza systematic excavation
On the ground
Structures & features
12.1115° S · 77.0339° W · 80 m · 2 mapped features
Seven-platform stepped adobe pyramid
pyramidLibrero technique pyramid 22 m high with seven stepped platforms, patios and ramps, Lima adobitos
12.1114° S · 77.0339° WWari tombs and shark burial patio
tombWari intrusion tombs (3 elite burials) and shark offering patio with intact Wari funerary textile offerings
12.1116° S · 77.0340° W
Gallery