Seki, Yuji (ed.): El Centro Ceremonial Andino. Nuevas Perspectivas para los Períodos Arcaico y Formativo

A monumental stone plaza at 4750 B.P. in the Cajamarca Valley of Peru

“…In contrast to the numerous examples along the coast, to date, the circular sunken plaza tradition is less commonly known from the Andean highlands. Previously, only three other highland examples have been discussed: La Galgada (~3000 BCE), Kuntur Wasi (plaza construction at approximately 800 BCE), and the Early Horizon site of Chavín de Huantar (9,10). Plaza types have been organized in a number of ways, but perhaps the most important distinction is into two spatial forms; some are axial to the primary ceremonial mound at a site, their location on a bisecting line, while others are peripheral to the primary mounds (11)(12)(13).…”

“…Early architecture in the northern, Cajamarca highlands is often interpreted as ritual in nature and occasionally monumental in scale. The earliest dated architecture in the region includes the mound complexes at Huacaloma (~1600 BCE) and Layzón (~500 BCE) in the Cajamarca basin, the mounds and plazas at Kuntur Wasi (~1000 BCE), Cerro Blanco, and other sites in the middle Jequetepeque river valley, and the northern mounds at Pacopampa (~1200 BCE) (10,(17)(18)(19)(20). These Initial period and Early Horizon centers are characterized by high flat-topped platform mounds often associated with large open rectangular plazas and, in the case of Kuntur Wasi, a well-defined sunken circular plaza.…”