Cajamarquilla

The Cajamarquilla archaeological site is located 25 km inland from the coastal city of Lima, Peru; in the Jicamarca Valley, 6 km north of the Rímac River. It occupies an area of approximately 167 ha, making it one of the largest archaeological monuments in the country. The site itself is now surrounded by several small villages which are encroaching upon, and threatening, its largely unfenced perimeter - despite its nationally 'protected' status.

Cajamarquilla is an 'adobe' city, which served as an important trading center during the height of the Lima culture. It was occupied throughout the first millennium of the current era, but climate change and natural disasters eventually led to its abandonment several hundred years before the Spanish conquest.