The area around the city of Chiclayo in northern Peru is a culture-hunter’s dream with archaeological sites galore including royal resting places at Huaca Rajada, the pyramids and purgatory legends at the Túcume archaeological site, and the chance to ride Peruvian Paso horses to off-the-beaten-path digs. Here’s how to explore these archaeological sites around Chiclayo.

What look like slowly-eroding hills are actually archaeological structures being unearthed at the Huaca Rajada site near Chiclayo, Peru.
Archaeological sites around Chiclayo, Peru
The word huaca was used by pre-Incan civilizations to mean a monument that represents something revered. In areas outside of the Andes, huacas are often pyramid-type structures that were built up and enlarged over the years. Today, these huacas typically look like just another natural mound or small hill until they’re excavated.
Royal tombs at Huaca Rajada
This dusty, sunny site near the town of Sipán is a good example of a huaca from the Moche culture which existed between 100 and 700 AD. Built in a pyramid form, experts believe that the adobe structures at the pre-Incan Huaca Rajada Archaeological Complex (8 soles or about US$2.15 entry) were the last resting places of Moche leaders.

The museum at the Huaca Rajada archaeological site.

An archaeologist works in a tomb at the Huaca Rajada archaeological site that shows a reconstruction of the tomb of the so-called Lord of Sipan.

The Moche people exhibited terrific pottery skills and this display of clay pots at the Huaca Rajada archaeological site shows just a few of the pieces found there.

Another royal tomb at the Huaca Rajada archaeological site. Don’t miss the bones of a llama below the human skeletons.

Artifacts of the Moche culture on display in the small but satisfying onsite museum at the Huaca Rajada archaeological site.
During your visit to Huaca Rajada, also look for small ground owls. They were an important symbol for the Moche people and many still live at the site.
Pyramids and purgatory at the Túcume archaeological site
No lords have yet been unearthed at the Túcume archaeological site (12 soles or about US$3.25 entry), but this site is impressive for its sheer size. Sometimes called the Pyramids of Túcume, archaeologists have discovered 26 adobe brick pyramids here which were originally created by the Lambayeque people, sometimes called the Sican people, around 1,00 AD in the early-to-mid-period of their culture.

An overview of the vast Túcume archaeological site.
Most structures have been heavily eroded by wind and rain, including an El Nino-triggered flood in 2017, so they may not look like much to the untrained eye. A dirt trail takes visitors through parts of the site, including a spot on Purgatory Mountain, aka Cerro de la Raya, with views down onto the impressively large site.

Those mounds are actually intentionally built adobe brick structures.

An artifact unearthed at the Túcume archaeological site on display in the onsite museum.
In 1988, Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl spent time excavating the Túcume site where decorative motifs similar to those he’d seen on Easter Island renewed his theory that “the earliest inhabitants of Easter Island must have sailed from South American beaches”.

Decorative wall elements found at the Túcume archaeological site.
Go horseback riding to an archaeological site
We’ve visited well over 100 archaeological sites in the course of our Trans-Americas Journey but, so far, we’ve only ridden horses to one of them.

Heading out to an archaeological site on Peruvian Paso horses with Rancho Santana.
This operation has a small stable of Peruvian Paso horses that the Swiss and Peruvian owners have bred themselves over the years. They offer short rides to a nearby archaeological site or multi-day rides that include other sites in the region (S/55, about US$17, for a three-hour ride to one site; S/75, about US$23, for a five-hour ride to three sites, or multi-day rides).

A climb to the top of the Santillo archaeological site delivers a view of the scrub forest around it and Huaca Jotoro in the distance.

Karen climbing up the side of the Huaca Santillo archaeological site as part of our horseback ride with Rancho Santana.
After our ride, we spent a peaceful night in Rancho Santana’s simple adobe bungalow with concrete floors, private bathroom, double bed and bunks, and come-and-go Wi-Fi (35 soles or about US$9 per person per night including breakfast).
Here’s more about travel in Peru
Here’s more about Archaeological Sites in the Americas
Here’s more about Cultural Travel in the Americas
Amazing. This looks like it would be Indiana Jones’ dream. Fabulous pictures.
Ryan
Thanks, Ryan!