Atalla: de Huancavelica al Mar

Atalla represents one of the first known trade centers with stone buildings of great monumentality in the central highlands. The formation of a community like Atalla has no antecedent in the area, this settlement was an independent response to the demand for cinnabar pigment from northern complex societies such as Chavín de Huantar, Kuntur Wassi, Pacopampa, among others.

Perhaps Atalla is the town where the true Yauli arises, since skeletal remains of our ancestors were found, on the slopes of Cerro Pucara in this jurisdiction.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL CENTER OF ATALLA or UCHKUS INKAÑAN They certify that the archaeological center of Atalla is 3 thousand years old The economic and religious importance of Huancavelica did not begin with the arrival of Spanish for the Santa Barbara mercury mine. The study is done by the American archaeologist at Yale University, Michelle Young, who informed Mail of her advances and important discoveries. Young explained that the Archaeological Center of Atalla dates from the time of the Early Horizon. “It is an archeological site that is more than 3 thousand years old. We found a very old archeological center, the foundation of the town was around a thousand years before Christ, ”he said. Investigation During their study, they found remains of old houses with stone walls. They also found features of camelid bones, such as llama and alpaca, which were consumed by the inhabitants. “They were farmers, they planted quinoa, potatoes, olluco. We found ceramics and stone tools, as well as stoves where people cooked their food, ”he said. Temple The highlight of the discovery is the discovery of a temple built of block stones, which they brought and styled to make very large platforms, a style of the temple that is linked to the religion of the Chavín culture. Young was struck by the fact that it was not a Chavín colony, its ceramics and customs are local, different, but religion is associated with Ancashina culture. “In the temple of Chavín there was a smiling god, a very fierce god who has very large fangs, the Monolithic Lanzón. In Atalla we find a small bone tablet carved with that same God, it is the same, with snake hair and with a big mouth with fangs, that catches my attention, we see that the iconography of God is the same, ”he said. However, the link with the Chavin culture would not only be religious, but also economic. "In Huancavelica is the Santa Barbara mine, the original form of mercury is cinnabar, a mineral that was used in powder to mark the face, bodies and artifacts such as ceramics," he said. This cinnabar reaches the culture of Paracas, Chavín de Huantar, Qunturhuasi, Pascopampa, which shows the exchange networks where Atalla played a very important role. This culture also has traces of the existence of a hierarchy, which would have been very abusive. To visit In order for the traveler to access this place, they must take a trip of approximately 2 hours and 45 minutes from the city of Huancavelica to the community of Uchkus; It can also be reached by a walk from the city, with a duration of 3 hours 30 by the Horseshoe Road; or you can choose to mix access modes by going first from Huancavelica Yauli, taking 45 minutes by bus and then starting a walk from Yauli to Uchkus for an hour and a half. Entrance to the campus is allowed during the months of May to October and the cost of admission is s / 0.50 for schoolchildren, s / 1.00 for students and s / 2.00 per adult ticket.