MARCA-HUAMACHUCO ARCHEOLOGICAL RUINS.

Marca-Huamachuco is an archaeological site of Pre-Incan ruins in La Libertad Region of Peru. It is considered significant and has been referred to as the "Machu Picchu of the North" and "The Jewel of La Libertad Region."
Marca-Huamchuco was set atop the nexus of three Mountain Valleys at an altitude of more than 3,200 m /10,000 ft. Encompassing more than 5 km of land, the site is celebrated for its massive castles and unique circular double-walled archaeological structures. The isolated highland mesa is now accessible on 3 1/2 hours ride from the city of Trujillo.
It was an oracle center for religious and political ceremonies. They were very familiar to the position of the stars and the predestination of each individual at the moment of its birth and therefore the fate of the individual was determined by it. A different forms of entities were believed to rule over each section of the heavens retaining full authority over its region and followed very defined rules in order to deal with each other. If war was declared, each part used alliances with different dimensions in order to defend themselves from being absorbed by the enemy and make its power stronger. Every celestial movement and phenomenon, such as the rising and setting of the sun, the equinoxes and solstices, moon phases, eclipses and meteors, were understood to be the doings of these entities. These cosmic movements were therefore regularly noted, and elaborated charts and tables of their occurrences were made, and from these, human affairs and terrestrial events were interpreted as part of a war between them in order to achieve more universal power and control over the heavens.
The site is 5 km long and 500 m wide, with a vast view of the surroundings. It contains several major compounds. These were surrounded by curved stone walls as high as 12 meters. The remains of inner galleries, rooms and plazas suggest the religious ceremonial activities and administrative functions. Archaeological evidence suggests that human burials were made within the walls. The domestic residences were multi-storied galleries which originally housed numerous individual families.
The influence of Marca-Huamachuco Culture extended through much of Northern Andean High Lands in present-day Peru and Southern Ecuador.
Its importance have been related to their religious interrelationship with its neighbors, the Mochica to the West, the Recuay Culture to the South, Cajamarca in the North, and lesser known cultures of the Maranon. In the later stages of the culture, the site was used as a burial place for the priests class.
The reciting of its genealogy was a fundamental principle in this Pre-Incan Culture and it provided the basis for establishing, enhancing, and even challenging relationship between individuals as families, local guardian entities, and regional bodies. They were able to trace and recite a lineage not only through the many generations in a linear sense, but also between such generations in a lateral sense. It was defined as the genealogical descent of all living things from the gods to its present time. Since all living things included rocks and mountains were believed to possess souls, it was further defined as a basis for the organization of knowledge in the respect of the creation and the development of all things. It also implied a deep connection to land and roots of one's ancestry. In order to trace one's ancestry it was essential to identify the location where one's ancestral heritage began. The ancestral genealogy linked all people back to the land and sea and sky and outer universe. It connected the spiritual and physical world and all the entities in it. It enabled the identification of obligations and the developing of trust among the individuals that formed the different communities.
The massiveness and monumentality of the Marca-Huamchuco Complex reveals the importance of its construction and their function, a factor that has moved the Peruvian Government to support the conservation of this immense archaeological site by recently establishing funding for a major project for conservation of what visitors have denominated "The Machu Picchu of the North."