Sechin Alto facts for kids

Sechin Alto is a huge ancient building complex in Peru. It was built a very long time ago, between 2000 and 1500 BC. You can find it in the Casma Province of the Ancash Region, on the left side of the Sechín River. It's near a town with the same name. Other important old sites like Cerro Sechín and Sechin Bajo are also close by.

Studying Sechin Alto

The first person to really look at Sechin Alto was an archaeologist named Julio C. Tello. He visited the Casma valley in 1937 and wrote a detailed description of the site. He believed it was the biggest ancient building in all of the Americas! Later, other archaeologists like Rosa Fung Pineda and Carlos Williams (in 1979), and Thomas and Shelia Pozorski (in 1987) also studied the site.

What Sechin Alto Looks Like

The main building at Sechin Alto is called the "Templo" (Temple). It's shaped like a pyramid. It's very big, about 350 meters long and 300 meters wide, and it stands 35 meters tall! It has raised earth walls with large stones mixed with smaller ones. Inside, you can see special cone-shaped mud bricks.

In front of the "Templo" are five open areas or plazas. Some of these plazas have round, sunken areas. This shows that the whole complex was used for important ceremonies. The entire complex stretches for about 2 kilometers and faces towards the northwest.

Around the main complex, there are many smaller buildings. These are all lined up with the main buildings. Today, people use these areas for farming, so they haven't been studied much yet. The whole Sechin Alto complex covers a huge area, about 300 to 400 hectares. That's five times bigger than Caral, which is another very large ancient site in Peru! Because of its massive size, Sechin Alto was probably the main control center for the entire Sechin culture.

Nearby Ancient Sites

This area is where the Sechin and Casma rivers meet. There are several other important ancient sites here. Across the Sechin River from Sechin Alto is the Sechin Bajo complex. This site is even older, with parts dating back to 3,500 BC.

A more famous nearby site is called Cerro Sechín. It's located southwest along the same side of the Sechin River. Cerro Sechin is famous for its tall stone walls. These walls have carvings that show "warrior-priests" fighting their enemies. This building complex was built between 1,500 and 2,000 BC. The stone carvings were added during the last part of its construction.

Sechin Alto is the largest of the four main ancient sites in this area. The other three big sites are Taukachi-Konkan, Sechin Bajo, and Cerro Sechin. According to archaeologist S. Pozorski, these sites have many things in common. They might have been built around the same time. These sites likely worked together, forming a huge settlement. This settlement covered a large part of the river valley during the Initial Period (2150—1000 BC).

Ancient Political Groups

Archaeologists Thomas and Shelia Pozorski believe that the earliest cultural group in this area was called the Moxeke (Mojeque) Phase. This was during the early Initial Period. After that, there was a group called the Sechin Phase.

The Casma Valley area was likely united by the Moxeke group during the early Initial Period. Later, political power shifted to the Sechin group. This happened near the end of the Initial Period. The Sechin group became very strong in the Sechin river branch. Other sites, like Pampa de las Llamas-Moxeke, were no longer used. A coastal site called Las Haldas, which had been on its own for a long time, became an important part of the Sechin Alto complex's influence.

See also

In Spanish: Sechín Alto para niños