Huaca

World History

(noun)

A large, pyramid-like structure made of adobe bricks and used as a palace, ritual site, temple, and administrative center.

Related Terms

Art History

(noun)

In Quechua, a Native American language of South America, a huaca or waqa is an object that represents something revered, typically a monument of some kind. The term huaca can refer to natural locations, such as immense rocks.

Related Terms

Examples of Huaca in the following topics:

  • Moche

    • From 100 CE to 800 CE, Moche civilization flourished in northern Peru with its capital, Huacas del Sol y de la Luna, being located near present-day Trujillo .
    • These realistic pots have been found not only in major North Coast archaeological sites, such as Huaca de la luna, Huaca del sol, and Sipan but at small villages and unrecorded burial sites as well.
    • Their adobe buildings have been mostly destroyed by looters and natural forces over the last 1300 years, but the huacas that remain show that the coloring of their murals was very vibrant.
    • Huaca del Sol, "Temple of the Sun", was the Mochica political capital.

  • The Moche

    • The Huaca del Sol, a pyramidal adobe structure on the Rio Moche, was the largest pre-Columbian structure in Peru.
    • Huacas were the centerpieces for ritual sites and used as administrative centers and palaces for Moche culture.
    • However, the Huaca del Sol was partly destroyed when Spanish Conquistadores mined its graves for gold in the 16th century.
    • The nearby Huaca de la Luna is better preserved.
    • A view of the Huaca de la Luna, with Cerro Blanco in the background

  • Ceramics in Early South America

    • From 100 CE to 800 CE, Moche civilization flourished in northern Peru with its capital, Huacas del Sol y de la Luna, located near present-day Trujillo.
    • These realistic pots have been found not only in major North Coast archaeological sites, such as Huaca de la luna, Huaca del Sol, and Sipan but at small villages and unrecorded burial sites as well.
    • Their adobe buildings have been mostly destroyed by looters and natural forces over the last 1300 years, but the huacas that remain show that the coloring of their murals was very vibrant.
    • Huaca del Sol, "Temple of the Sun," was the Mochica political capital.

  • The Sicán

    • Such changes have been noted by researchers at sites in Batan Grande, including the Huaca del Pueblo site, dated to around 850–900 CE.
    • Funerary practices at Huaca Loro reflected the social differentiation and hierarchy present in Sicán society.
    • The elite East Tomb at Huaca Loro contained over a ton of diverse grave goods, over two-thirds of which were objects of arsenical bronze, tumbaga, silver and copper alloys, and high-karat gold alloys.
    • For example, commoner grave goods at Huaca Loro were usually restricted to single-spout bottles, utilitarian plain and/or paddle decorated pottery, and copper-arsenic objects, instead of the precious metal objects of the elite tombs.

  • Chimú

    • Shrines (called huacas) developed in each district across Chimor, dedicated to an associated legend, deity, or cult of belief, depending on the region.