Oh the places we have been...

          Over the past few days we have gotten to visit a couple of different archeological sites, Maranga in the Parque de las Leyendas and Pachacamac. Some of the ruins in Maranga date as far back as 200 B.C. and the Painted Temple in Pachacamac is believed to have been started in the Early Intermediate Period (200 B.C. - 550 A.D.). The two sites are just under 30 kilometers apart as crow flies according to Google Earth, this would have been a solid days walk back then so they would have communicated probably communicated and later were both under Incan rule. The two sites share some similarities but there are also some differences. The Huacas, or buildings, in Maranga were mainly constructed using large stones and some of the earlier huacas had small stones scattered in what looked like their version of stucco.

                                         

         All of the temples and buildings at Pachacamac, however, are made of much smaller stones. The site museum called it the "librero technique or bookstands for their form".  I think this is because they would have likely had a quarry near each site and we saw the rock at Pachacamac was very brittle. It is surprising that the rock there was strong enough to support the size of the buildings, especially the Temple of the Sun. I am not sure if it is because of the brittle stone or that it seems more money is being spent to excavate Pachacamac but, there was much more stones added in the last few years to help support the structures than in Maranga. Also though the larger stones might have just been much more secure. In the museum at the Parque de las Leyendas there were three models and all three were oriented towards the NW (archeology site Mateo Salado, Hauca San Marcos, Pyramid with ramp #2 at Pachacamac). These sites all had a wall that would have been inline with the setting sun and maybe other astronomical features during that time period. 

        We also noticed that the tilted side of the Temple of the Sun and one of the sides of Aqllawasi were also oriented towards the NW.  

On our way to Pachacamac I was reflecting on the past week and the city of Lima. This trip has been a great experience so far and I am sure it will only get better as we make our way to Machu Picchu. The city of Lima fits the stereotype that I had of South American cities, it has a grey feeling but I like it. Unfortunately, it is pretty sad to see so much poverty on the out skirts of town. On the interstate this morning the most green grass I saw was on the lawn of the gas stations and on the exit ramps. For the most part their roads were not paved and people looked to be wondering around aimlessly. I think the reason that Peruvians always have such a cold look on their face is because this is the reality that they have grown up seeing or living. The people living in these "ghettos" or "slums" must feel hopelessly trapped and that is very sad to think about. I naively hoped that maybe this type of housing was unique to the hill of San Cristobal, but today I was brought to reality that this country is in need of A LOT of help.