Pachacamac

Last weekend, we visited the archeological site of Pachacamac located just outside of Lima and I learned a lot about the cultures who lived there because we had a very informative and easy to understand tour guide! Pachacamac is located right on the coast and was inhabited by various different ancient cultures including the Wari, the Lima and later the Inca empire. The majority of the palaces, temples and other buildings were built on a large desert hill which overlooks the ocean and the river below. The people who originally lived there worshiped a the creator god called Pacha Kamaq who was later adapted into Incan culture. When the Incans lived there, they built a special building where girls were sent from age 8 to 14 to learn how to weave, knit and perform other feminine skills that were were important to the empire. It is a very impressive looking structure and fascinating for me to see as a Smithie- that all female education centers existing at this time and that the women lived together in a community. It would be interesting to learn more about this! The museum there had some incredible examples of the textiles that have been discovered there that have been preserved because the climate is so dry. There was a beautiful woven belt, clothing and even examples of the Incan Quipu- the Incans did not have a written language but instead kept there records using a code that used knots on strings to communicate. It was really amazing to see real examples of these because I have read about them.