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26-659: Born in Huamachuco District , he exposed the problems of the Native Peruvians while learning about their way of life. This understanding of how they were oppressed was the focus for his novels. He attended classes at the University of Trujillo , and worked briefly as a journalist for the newspaper El Norte . In 1930 Alegría joined the Aprista movement , dedicated to social reform as well as improving

52-451: A height of 3,210m (10,400 feet) above sea level. This district was long occupied by people who used domesticated animals in the puna (grasslands) and cultivated agricultural crops in the lower part of the terrain. They developed terraced agriculture , which in the region is known as andenenes . It was dominated by the Wari' people who created woven textiles, and many artifacts and tools of

78-466: A variety of metals, including precious ones. They built Marcahuamachuco , a large, monumental complex believed to have been used as a political and religious center of the elites of a culture that thrived 350 CE-1100 CE. In the culture's later stages, they interred their elite in the 12-foot-high walls surrounding the monuments. All this was done long before the conquest by the Inca and the later arrival of

104-505: A vast view of the surroundings, Marcahuamachuco 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 administrative and ceremonial functions. During the later Middle Period (AD 700–900) followed into the Intermediate Late Horizon (until around 1200), archaeological evidence suggests that human burials were made within

130-602: Is an archeological site of Pre-Incan ruins in the La Libertad Region of Peru . Although less well-known than other sites, it is considered significant and has been referred to by archaeologists as " Machu Picchu of the North" and "The Jewel of La Libertad." Construction of Marcahuamachuco began around AD 400, during the Andean Middle Horizon period and continued until approximately 800 AD. This

156-665: The Latin American Novel Prize in 1941, and brought him international attention. It depicts an Andean community, living in the Peruvian highlands. The book was later published in the United States and has been reprinted many times, in multiple languages. He lived in Puerto Rico, USA and Cuba. Alegría returned to Peru in 1960. He joined President Fernando Belaúnde Terry 's party ( Acción Popular ) and

182-722: The Spanish. During the Andean formative and Developmental period, small settlements grew up throughout the highlands of the Huamachuco area. The Huari people built dwellings that were simple oval-shaped single rooms made of field stones, with floors of clay. These structures were used in the agricultural communities mainly for storage of crops and other goods, and sleeping. The hamlets at higher elevations (3900–4000 m.) were bases for their herding of domesticated animals, as agriculture could not survive at those heights. The settlements in

208-483: The capital of the province and the important archeological site of Marcahuamachuco , which was active, likely as an oracle center and place for religious and political elites, about 350 CE to 1100 CE. The area is 184 km (114 mi) from Trujillo , the capital of the Region, located closer to the coast. The ancient wachemines forged culture and language in the heart of the current La Libertad Region , living at

234-580: The coast. With its political center Marcahuamachuco , the people of Huamachuco traded during the Andean regional period. By the late nineteenth century, there was international interest in the region. European travelers had published drawings and reports of the Marcahuamachuco ruins. Political unrest and an outbreak of fighting was reported by The New York Times of the United States in August 1883. Marcahuamachuco Marcahuamachuco

260-587: The elite. Its influence extended through much of northern Peru and contemporary southern Ecuador. This importance may have been related to trade with its neighbors between AD 650 and 700, the Mochica to the west, the Recuay culture to the south, Cajamarca in the north and lesser-known cultures of the Maranon . Built defensively on top of an isolated highland mesa that is 5 kilometers long and 500 meters wide, with

286-468: The higher elevations, and cultivated crops at lower elevations. In the puna grasslands , the people cultivated domesticated tubers such as potatoes , oca, isanu, ulluca, maca, and arachacha. They also had crops of seed-producing plants, such as varieties of chenopods and lupines , and also amaranths , legumes , cucurbits , and beans . Agriculture was based primarily on potatoes , oca, isanu, ulluca, maca, and arachacha. Throughout this period,

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312-625: The importance of its constructions 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”. More recently the Minister of Culture Juan Ossio denotes the importance of the site and names Marcahuamachuco, Wanuku Pampa and Kuelap as

338-425: The late 19th century were done by European travelers, as the field of archeology was developing professionally. Charles Wiener in 1880 published the first topographical description of Marcahuamachuco and named its principal compounds. Ernst Middendorf visited Marcahuamachuco in 1887, describing its principal compounds and comparing the site to Kuelap . The first formal archaeological research in Marcahuamachuco

364-551: The lower elevations (2500–3000 m.) contained large amounts of agricultural tools, showing the importance of crops. The large center of Marcahuamachuco , about 30 miles away, has monumental remains that constitute an archeological site. Researchers believe that it served as a political and religious center for the elites of the society. The prehistoric Huari economy in the area depended on both agriculture and domesticated livestock, with additional hunting of game. The people ran animal herds of domesticated llama and alpaca in

390-446: The monumental galleries. His publication described the site in more detail, and he drew more precise and elaborate maps of the archaeological site, and presented a chronological sequence to explain the cultural development of Marcahuamachuco. In 1944 archaeologist Hans Horkheimer published photographs from Marcahuamachuco, which showed stone heads similar to those of Chavin . John Thatcher, a student of McCown, continued with research in

416-810: The people also developed and maintained intricate networks of irrigated terraces to support maize crops. In addition to using their domesticated animals for food, the people of Huamachuco hunted game, such as deer and birds. They also hunted various types of rodents. The peoples depended on their domestic animals to satisfy much of their need for food, clothing, and transportation. They used them less in agriculture. Metal artifacts have been found, attesting to their skilled artisans. Their materials were not only gold, silver, and copper, but also gilded copper and some arsenic bronze mixtures. Common metal products included chisels, adzes , plates, pins, tupus , needles, and tweezers; ingots and scraps of pure metals have been recovered as archeological artifacts . Textile manufacture

442-527: The site during 1968-69 and 1973–74. He worked to establish its cultural phases and chronologies on the basis of ceramic styles. The Huamachuco Archaeological Project, supported by a Canadian team, has been dedicated since 1981 to study the prehistory of the area. Its researchers have collected data and drawn conclusions about the site and its history. Marcahuamachuco is set atop the nexus of three mountain valleys at an altitude of more than 3,200 meters (10,000 feet). Encompassing more than three kilometres of land,

468-433: The site is celebrated for its massive castillos and unique circular double-walled archaeological structures. Over many centuries, however, the ruins have been degraded by natural elements, and today face accelerating threats from grazing livestock, plant growth, lack of conservation and surveillance, and the continued effects of natural elements and weather. The site's location, in the northern Peruvian highlands of La Libertad,

494-445: The walls. These contributed to the ceremonial functions of the site. Marcahuamachuco probably had oracles, who attracted people from the northern Andes, the areas that today comprise Peru and Ecuador. The cult was probably related to deities, an old cult to Ataujo , and a more recent cult to Catequil . Marcahuamachuco became a prominent center at the same time that the Wari in southern Peru culture flourished (AD 400 – 1100). The site

520-585: The welfare of Native Peruvians. He was imprisoned several times for his political activities before finally being exiled to Chile in 1934. He remained in exile in both Chile and later the United States up until 1948. Later, he taught at the University of Puerto Rico , and wrote about the Cuban revolution while in Cuba. His most well known novel, Broad and Alien is the World (1941) or El mundo es ancho y ajeno , won

546-446: Was an essential prehistoric economic activity in this region, as evidenced by the many weaving tools found at the archeological site. Due to the wet climate, virtually no ancient textiles from this area have survived. There is evidence that Huamachuco had trade and other interaction with neighboring areas, including Cajamarca to the south, and the Recuay and Moche cultures to the west. Through Callejon de Huaylas, it also traded with

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572-521: Was conducted during three months in 1900 by Max Uhle and Julio C. Tello under the auspices of the University of California, Berkeley (UC). Uhle photographed the site and corrected the previous maps prepared by Wiener. His research was followed in 1941-42 by Theodore McCown of UC. In addition to reviewing Uhle's writings and collected specimens stored at the University's Museum of Anthropology, during two years of field work McCown excavated between

598-696: Was elected to the Chamber of Deputies in 1963. He died unexpectedly in Lima, Peru on February 17, 1967. After his death, his widow Dora Varona published many of his essays and reports he had written for various newspapers. He was 57 years old. Ciro Alegria published, among others, the following works: Huamachuco District Huamachuco District is one of the districts of the Sánchez Carrión province located in La Libertad Region in Peru . It contains

624-486: Was likely abandoned in the 15th century. The latest investigations of the site by researchers John and Theresa Lange Topic (1991) suggested that occupation may have been seasonal, with a maximum population of 6,000. Their estimate is based upon the quantity of arable land and water availability. One of the earliest sketch maps on Marcahuamachuco comes from the 18th-century document prepared by Bishop Baltazar Jaime Martinez Compañón . Early descriptions and drawings from

650-420: Was until recently a difficult to access place. Today a new road makes it accessible on three and a half hours ride from the city of Trujillo, the third largest on the country's Pacific coast, and location of major Moche heritage sites. The domestic residences are multi-storied galleries which originally housed numerous individual families. The massiveness and monumentality of the Marcahuamachuco complex reveals

676-516: Was well before the Wari culture and the later imperial expansion of the Incas . Before being conquered by the Incas in the 14th century, Marcahuamachuco was known as northern Peru's most important political, economic and military center. Researchers believed that the site as an oracle center, and for religious and political ceremonies. In the later stages of the culture, it was used as a burial site for

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