Living in Peru : your everyday companion

An expedition of local authorities verified the finding of a possible pre-Inca citadel at the Pachallama hill, located in the village of La Palma, province of Utcubamba (Peru’s Amazonas), after this was reported by people of the zone.

The group, which arrived last weekend, found stone circular dwellings along five hectares over a farming land located in the above-mentioned village.

In these dwelling places, there were also found big stones that would have been used by ancient people of the area to grind some seeds and wild plants.

The expedition has to face difficulties such as the slope of the Pachallama hill, due to wild nature and rain, in order to depart from Bagua Grande and go across the Pururco town.

The mayor of Jamalca, Ricardo Cabrera Bravo, said to Andina news agency that were inhabitants of La Palma who fitted out the area.

"They organized the work, provided with machetes they cleared the way until arrive in the place where it is possible to sight a beautiful natural landscape full of flora and fauna, besides a waterfall of approximately 500 meters", he said.

The professor Benedicto Perez Goicochea, who reported the discovery, said that cave paintings on a cliff were also found. "The citadel arrives in an abyss that, we think, ancient inhabitants used as viewing-point and where they could see possible enemies", he added.