Architecture of Kuelap The Art and Architecture of the Pre-Columbian Chachapoya

This book is a detailed study of the enormous§pre-Columbian ruin §Kuelap in the Department of Amazonas, Peru. The text§provides a §description of this area of northeastern Peru and a§narrative §historiography of the ruin. §From the time of Kuelap s introduction to the§modern world in §1843, the Kuelap has always been considered a§fortress. This study §is a reconsideration of this militaristic framing.§The following chapters also critique the belligerent stereotype§assigned to the §northern Andean highlands for the Late Intermediate§Period (1,000 §to 1,400 AD). The text also explores the historical§digression, §concerning Chachapoya studies, caused by this mindset. §Theories are then presented which will offer a§plausible scenario §for the construction and occupation of Kuelap. Were§the enormous §walls erected to imitate the ubiquitous form in the§region, the cliff §face? A new iconography for the Chachapoya§architectural frieze §work is also considered. This system positions these§geometric §friezes as aspects of the human head: eyes, ears and§nose. Closing §remarks provide suggestions for continued§investigations regarding §the ruin.