Los «Templos en U» del valle de Huaura, costa norcentral. Una aproximación preliminar a un problema monumental

Abstract

In this paper, we describe and analyze the U-shaped monumental complexes from the lower Huaura valley known as Chacra Socorro o Huaura Antigua, located in the province of Huarura in the Department of Lima in the north-central coast of Peru. These constructions formed part of a tradition of monumental architecte that extended across the valleys of the central coast during the Early Formative Period (1800 a. C.-900 a. C.). They would have functioned to permit the congregation of large quanties of people in the central plazas bounded by its lateral structures. From the definition and analysis of this architectural pattern, there have arisen a series of explanations about the societies that constructed the complexes. In this article, we discuss these theories through the presentation of the U-shaped architecture in the Huaura Valley and other nearby valleys. All of this permits to generate a diachronic view of the early history of the Huaura valley and its region.

Keywords

• northcentral coast
• Formative period
• Huaura
• monumental architecture