Archaeological complex more than 4,000 years old. The Temple of the Crossed Hands stands out: two pairs of high relief sculptures, with crossed arms, worked in raw clay. There is no doubt about the high hierarchical level of the priestly caste of Kotosh and the ritual representations and pilgrimage of a religious type.
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Kotosh is one of the oldest architectural groups of the Formative Period. These are located in the district of Huánuco, in the province and department of the same name, about 2,100 meters above sea level.
This Archaeological Complex has gone through different periods of construction, the oldest being the one that dates back to 2000 years before our era, and they are structures that from the base belong to the Myth Tradition. The temporal location in the Myth Tradition is important, it is characterized by representing two elements in its buildings, a physical one presented in the temple and an abstract one: the sacred fire.
At a structural level, the temples are superimposed and made with edged stones that have been carefully joined together with the help of clay mortar. Its shape is a square base with rounded corners and in general the temples do not occupy a large space, only 20 m2. The temples share a frontal orientation towards the southeast and among them we can recognize: The Temple of the Nichitos, the White Temple and, the best known and most important, the Temple of the Crossed Hands.
The Temple of the Nichitos is located above the Temple of Kotosh. It is named for the presence of niches in its structure and belongs to the latest period of construction. This was discovered by a group of Japanese archaeologists and is important, because it allowed us to understand the construction methods used by the men of this town. The construction followed the following pattern: First, the construction of a floor, second, the construction of a hearth with different ventilation ducts, third, the floors and niches were finished to finally plaster the walls.
The next Temple, called the White Temple, would be the oldest of the building. This is called this because of the white plaster it presented, it was buried so that the Temple of the Crossed Hands could later be built on it.
The third temple, and the most important of the building, is the one located in the center of the others: The Temple of the Crossed Hands. This is called this because of the presence of a sculpture in which hands can be seen in this position, and which were found under one of the niches of the superimposed building.
At an architectural level, it has a rectangular shape whose measurements are 9.5 m by 9.3 m. And during its period of validity it reached a height of two and a half to three meters. This temple was also plastered with a layer of white mud and on its front you could see the presence of trapezoidal niches.
Regarding the “Crossed Hands”, this would have been the oldest sculpture found in Peru, whose meaning has not yet been fully clarified, although there are researchers who think that it could be representing duality.
For the visitor to reach this area, they must travel from the City of Huánuco to the site, for a 20-minute bus ride. Entry to Kotosh requires payment of a ticket, the cost of which is s/1.00 for schoolchildren, s/1.50 for students and seniors and s/2.00 for adults. Visiting hours are Monday to Sunday from 8 in the morning to 5 in the afternoon.
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