Las Aldas
Las Aldas Casma · Aldas Platform
Late Preceramic – Initial Period (c.2500–1000 BCE) – Casma-Sechín·Casma-Sechín (Preceramic to Initial)·🇵🇪 Ancash, Casma Province, Pacific Coast, Peru
About
About Las Aldas
Las Aldas is a monumental U-shaped temple-plaza on a coastal eolian terrace at Casma, Ancash, at 30 m above the Pacific. Founded c.2500 BCE contemporaneous with Caral, its 180m-wide platform faces east to a 30m-diameter circular sunken court enclosed by tiered walls – the classic Initial Period ritual grammar. The complex pairs inland agricultural terraces with maritime fishing shrine platforms. Excavated by Rosa Fung and Edificio, it belongs to the Casma-Sechín tradition alongside Sechín Bajo and Moxeke, documenting the transition from Preceramic plaza to Initial Period adobe temple. The circular court preserves painted plaster and offering pits with fish bone and gourd.
Why it mattersLas Aldas is a monumental U-shaped temple-plaza on a coastal eolian terrace at Casma, Ancash, at 30 m above the Pacific. Founded c.2500 BCE contemporaneous with Caral, its 180m-wide platform faces east to a 30m-diameter circular sunken court enclosed by tiered walls – the classic Initial Period ritu Type-site defining regional sequence.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Chronology and phasing of construction
- 02Function of elite vs communal architecture
Theories
- 01Regional capital coordinating irrigation and exchange
- 02Ritual-ceremonial amphitheatre aligned to astronomy
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.2500–1800 BCE primary, reuse to c.1000 BCE
- Period
- Late Preceramic – Initial Period (c.2500–1000 BCE) – Casma-Sechín
- Culture
- Casma-Sechín (Preceramic to Initial)
- Builders
- Casma-Sechín coastal communities
- Purpose
- U-shaped coastal temple platform with circular sunken court facing Pacific, predynastic ritual and fishing-agrarian redistribution center
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
c.2500–1800 BCE primary, reuse to c.1000 BCE
Initial construction
c.1200 CE
Major occupation / refurbishment
c.1000–1532
Late horizon / Inca incorporation where applicable
On the ground
Structures & features
9.5500° S · 78.3200° W · 30 m · 2 mapped features
U-Shaped Platform and Circular Sunken Court
temple180×120m platform with 30m circular court and tiered plaza facing east
9.5498° S · 78.3199° WCoastal Ashlar Retaining Walls (Lower Terrace)
terraceStone-faced lower terraces with rolled cobble fill and plaster floors toward shore
9.5503° S · 78.3202° W
Gallery