The Ancient Atlas

Vilcashuaman

City / RuinsSouth America

Inca administrative and ceremonial center in the Ayacucho region of central Peru at 3,470 meters elevation. The site was one of the four most important provincial capitals of the Inca Empire, built atop and incorporating an earlier Wari-period substrate. The central feature is the Ushnu — a stepped truncated pyramid faced with precision-polygonal andesite masonry — the only example of its kind to survive intact in Peru. Brien Foerster has documented extensive cataclysmic damage to the upper courses that post-dates the original construction.

-13.6592°, -73.9442°

Look Closer — this site carries open questions: polygonal, interlocking masonry; stones fitted without mortar, almost no gap; stones heavier than the period's tools could lift.
Open in the Atlas map →

Walkthrough videos (1)

Megalithic Marvels And Ancient Cataclysmic Damage; Vilcashuaman In PeruMegalithic Marvels And Ancient Cataclysmic Damage; Vilcashuaman In PeruBrien Foerster

Nearby sites