Cerro Purgatorio, Tucume 1988. The extensive ruins of Cerro Purgatorio consist of weathered pyramids, plazas and densely packed urban compounds, eroded into geometric patterns in the Leche River Valley in northern Peru. The ancient population center was part of the Lambayeque culture, which flourished between AD 1000 and 1450 but survived until the Spanish Conquest. The photograph is a close-up of several elevated urban compounds, each about 300 feet in length. Within the compounds, individual cells (living and storage areas) originally had thatched roofs.
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