Cerro Sechín

Dating to 1600 BC, the site was discovered by Peruvian archaeologists Julio C. Tello and Toribio Mejía Xesspe on July 1, 1937.

Notable features include megalithic architecture with carved figures in bas-relief, which graphically dramatize human sacrifices.

[1] It is situated 13 kilometres (8.1 mi) from the Pacific Ocean,[5] near the confluence of the Sechin and Moxeke Rivers at an altitude of 90 metres (300 ft) above sea level.

Sechin Bajo was excavated from 1990 and its deeper layer was found in the year 2008; finds include the remains of a circular plaza of stone and mud dating to the Late Archaic period from 3,500 BC.

In terms of function, Cerro Sechin served as a central administration place for production, distribution and food stocks, and also of worship as a ceremonial center.

[4] The most striking feature of the stone building is its lithic block facade decorated with reliefs representing "warrior-priests" and mutilated bodies.

[7] The characters are of two types: the warrior-priests (wearing a weapon or scepter) and dismembered victims or their offal (mainly heads, limbs, eyes skewered, intestines, vertebrae and viscera).

Carving methods include bevelled cuts, such as those found on body contours, and shallow incisions, such as noted in eyelids and lips.

[8] An alternate theory is that the site was a laboratory for anatomical studies, which explains the explicit exposure of different parts of the human body, such as organs and bones.