Pre-Hispanic Civilisations: Chachapoyas
‘You can see everything here: their sarcophagi, their culture, their remains,’ explains Sonia Bautista as we arrive at the top of the cliff. Sonia is taking us on a day-long journey through the culture of the Chachapoyas. At the very end of our journey through Peru, we come across an ancient civilisation that is virtually unknown in Europe. There was a lot of hype about them a few years ago when new sarcophagi were discovered.
But don’t expect to see huge Egyptian pyramids in the sand. The Chachapoyas lived in a mountainous region of the Andes and their final resting place was in the steep rocky slopes. Accessible to everyone – as long as you are fit and can cope with the rough terrain. The jungle protected the Chachapoyas, hiding them from conquerors and grave robbers, and today they are slowly reappearing due to deforestation.
It was only in 2006, Sonia explains, that the villagers discovered the graves, but did not know what to do with them. It took another couple of years for the site being accessible. A teacher was sent to the village of San Gerónimo in 2012. He rediscovered the graves and knew how important they were. The teacher was able to motivate the village community to built a path and small bridges and even brought in Peruvian television. But they never became very well known, so they are not overcrowded. What a stroke of luck for us – and for them.
The only clue: a location on Google
The village of San Gerónimo is 5 kilometres from the burial site. The road up there is steep and winding, actually more of a track, but in pretty good condition. We get lost once because we follow Google Maps instead of the signs.
After an hour’s drive, we reach the village. A small mountain village with a surprisingly beautiful school. It is inhabited, quite lively and we have to ask because we don’t see any signs to the Cerro del Tigre, as the burial site is officially called. However, the villagers know how to help us immediately. They call the person in charge and make us wait.
Thirty minutes later we are told to drive up the hill, about 1.5 kilometres, where someone will be waiting for us. Sure enough, Sonia is standing a little higher up the road waving to us. We almost missed her. We are sceptical at first, but we stop and talk to her for a while. The car park is just off the road – hopefully the slope is stable enough.
We find it a bit expensive; we are used to other prices in Peru (except in Cuzco and the surrounding area). It costs a whole 20 dollars for two with a private guide. But we’ve only heard good things, and as we haven’t seen the sarcophagi yet, we decide to go.
Later, Sonia explains why it was so easy to find her in the village: They pay 5 soles to anyone who calls them. The price is justified, because another 10 soles per person go directly to the community, which is now building a new meeting house with noble material. That’s what they call concrete. The guide keeps the rest for his working hours. A total of 80 soles, or 20 dollars.
Meadows, forests, graves
We walk up a muddy path. Sonia in flip-flops, a small water bottle in her hand, we in walking boots and rucksacks. We continue over meadows, under quinine trees, down again, over a small wooden bridge and then steeply up into the forest.
About 3.5 kilometres in about one hour, with lots of photo stops, then a turn to the right and voilá: The remains of the temples in the middle of the rock. Former fireplaces, human bones and adobe buildings.
The Chachapoyas culture dates back to the 9th century and left many cave paintings and other temples and tombs. Around 1470, the Chachapoyas became part of the Inca Empire. Right at the beginning, where we came through, you can see the round buildings, which shows that it belongs to the Chachapoya culture; if it’s square, like further down the valley, then it’s Inca,’ says Sonia. The round tombs are still painted, everything is as we found it, even the paint is still there. They got the paint from tree bark, it was good paint.
The most famous Chachapoya site is Kuélap. But because it is so far south, we decided not to go there. It’s more touristy and less adventurous. Then we saw this place on the map and thought it would be a good idea to give it a try. Once again, it was worth it.
Mausoleums and sarcophagi in the rock
The most remarkable feature of the Chachapoyas were their tombs. There were two types: mausoleums in small caves as communal graves and sarcophagi as individual graves. The latter were always placed on rocky slopes that were even more difficult to access. Just like where we are now.
After the first buildings, we continue along the slope. There are several caves with human bones. They are all still there. As I said, nothing has been touched, just a rope to prevent people walking over the remains. A little further on we stand under a rock overhang. Sonia shows us a small wooden walkway that leads to a tree. The stability of the platform looks a little doubtful. We have to climb up one by one as it’s not safe for two people. The whole thing is a bit wobbly and doesn’t feel very safe—but if you’ve come this far… you’ve got to go through it.
Hold on tight, up the ladder, turn around, sit down and, wow! There they are, less than ten metres away: thirteen small, shiny sarcophagi. The remains of the aristocratic families were buried in them, the commoners in the caves. It is incredible that they are so well preserved, with paintings 500 to 600 years old.
Unbelievable that no tomb robbers have taken them. I ask Sonia: One day a little mummy just disappeared from the temple. But the sarcophagi are not so easy to get at, fortunately. There are apparently more sarcophagi further up the rock, but that would be a much bigger adventure. They have tried several times to find a safe route from the village, without success. We briefly consider asking her if she knows anyone who could lead us there, though we don’t have time for that much adventure.
The somewhat different offering
We still enjoyed every minute there. We waited for the rain to stop and for Sonia to make her small offering at the altar. Three human skulls surrounded by alcohol and cigarettes. ‘I always take some coca, make the sign of the cross and place it in front of the altar, so that our ancestors protect us and give us strength and energy,’ says Sonia.
We don’t have the usual gifts with us, but Michael finds some gummy bears. We give place them as our offering. Maybe the ancestors will be pleased and give us some of their strength for our journey. We could use it.
Now that we think about it, maybe they have already given us something, because this was one of those tours that we will remember and talk about for a long time.