Kuelap Ruins

Near the city of Chachapoyas in Northern Peru lies some magnificent ruins made by the Chachapoyans. This pre-Incan civilisation reigned over an area of cloud forest in the Amazon Basin about a third the size of modern day Peru from about AD500 to 1470. They were called The Chachapoyas by the Incans (of Machu Pichu fame) who eventually conquered them, meaning Warriors of the Clouds. They were fierce fighters who took the skulls of victims as trophies and were believed to also eat their hearts. They worshipped mainly pumas, eagles and snakes, with a mummified jaguar found in a royal tomb and images of these animals depicted in their art and constructions. Animal and human scarifies were also performed at the temple in the ruins. They even had their own language.


Radiocarbon dating shows that construction of the fortress began sometime in the sixth century AD. The structure is located at an altitude of 3000 on a ridge above a narrow valley some 1.2 kms vertically below. It consists of a huge exterior stone wall as much as 19 m high made without the benefit of cement. Some of these stones have aquatic fossils from before the sea bed was forced up to form the Andes Mountains. The fortress is roughly 600 m in length and 110 m in width. It had two levels, one for the Military, Religious order and Ruling class and one for the common people below, and had over 500 buildings. This is believed to have support a population of up to 4000 people at its zenith. Each house has a huge stone on the floor, usually embedded bedrock, used to grind flour for the household´s needs. They would live amongst their Guinea Pigs (i.e. their dinner) during the day to share body warmth, but would sleep separated on a platform or on the other side of a low stone wall during the night. Most houses had tombs for deceased relatives at the door for the believed protection it provided from evil spirits.

The Chachapoyas were eventually conquered by the significantly more powerful and numerous Incans; but it was not done without difficulty. The citadel itself could never be taken by force. Instead, it was sieged for about 20 years -- cutting off access to outside food and water -- until they eventually surrendered. They survived off huge stockpiles, some farming within the fort, but mainly by their intense hatred of the Incans. Only 60 years later the Spanish invaded. Even with the advantage of arms and other technology, they could not take the citadel by force either. However, due to the highly infectious Small Pox brought over by the Spanish, this siege of the now Incan held fort took a little under a year.

That this citadel was never taken by force is incredible; unless you look at the design. The only entry points through the high walls were two gates, one on either side of the complex. The gap in the wall starts wide then narrows as it ascends the steep stairs, like the shape of a pizza slice. Many attacking soldiers could charge in together but would get jammed as the passage narrowed, and the top was wide enough for only one person to pass at a time. This single soldier would be met by a wall of spears and other weapons, and both sides of this gauntlet would be defended by soldiers slinging down rocks and other instruments of harm. Even to reach the outer wall you needed to charge 1.2 kms vertically up from the river below. At 3000 m altitude, this is no easy feat by itself. Furthermore, there was a guard tower at the top of the complex that had a direct line of sight to the fire or smoke signals of the three nearest villages, providing an advanced warning signal for attack.

For a civilisation that ruled over a large area for almost 1000 years, surprisingly little is known about the Chachapoyas. But from what we do know, they seem pretty bad arse.

Authors Note: Most of these ´facts´ came from my memory of the tour I took through the ruins, and should not be relied upon in more than a general sense.