Kuelap

Kuélap stands at an elevation of 3000 metres on the left bank of the Utcubamba River, in the district of Tingo, Luya Province. The area is covered with cloud forests. The protected zone covers 218.33 ha and a buffer zone 609.67 ha, protecting about 12 archaeological sites as well as the main site.

The abandoned settlement covers about six hectares, 584 m from north to south and 110 m at its widest. The walls are 10 to 20 m high, of finely worked limestone blocks, some of which may weigh 3 tons. There are three entrances, two on the east and one on the west; the main entrance is trapezoidal and narrows until it allows the passage of one person.

All but five of the 421 structures are circular. Only foundations or walls remain, some up to 2 meters high and 50 cm thick, and some walls bear friezes of rhomboid and zigzag shapes. A 5.5-meter-high structure in the southwest, known as El Tintero or Templo Mayor, has the shape of an inverted cone; ceremonial remains were found there, and it is hypothesized that it may have been a solar observatory. In the northwest, Pueblo Alto is entered through a wall 11.5 meters high, and to its north the towerlike Torreón rises to 7 meters and may have been used for defence, as stone weapons were found within it. Many stones bear designs in relief, numerous burials have been found in the walls and inside the circular structures, and stone water canals are believed to have supplied water from a spring at the top of the mountain.