For something to do in Lima we went to Huaca Pucllana. This active archaeological site restricts visits to certain tour times, and each tour must be escorted. Our little guide was quite informative. She told us that Huaca Pucllana was originally about 8 city blocks square, and now is about 3 at most. In 1984 the land belonged by a private business owner, and he was just bull dozing chunks of it for development. Over half of the site was destroyed until the government took possession of the site for preservation. What is left is what has been salvaged beneath the surface.
The handmade mud bricks are all placed vertically, book-end style, to create layers. There are literally thousands upon thousands of bricks; in some you can still see finger prints from when they were made. The pyramid structures are similar style to those of Templo Mayor in that the buildings would be made bigger by adding several different surrounding layers. There would be many prior structures under the most visible top layer. It is tragic to think what sorts of artifacts, tombs, or human remains were destroyed prior to the preservation efforts.
All in all it was worth the short visit to the site.
Happy Travels,
~j
