Drains vs Machu Picchu

One thing that I've noticed as I've moved into different areas of Peru is that the guides to non Inca archaeological sites can't resist telling you how the civilization they are telling you about is:
a) very important
b) better than the Incas because....

So far on this trip I've been to various Inca sites in and around Cusco, to the main Wari site near Ayacucho (around 800 AD to 1100 AD) and to Chavin (2000 BC).

Sadly the Wari site is not that excavated yet as it hasn't attracted much foreign money for archaeology and so although it's possible to see that it covered a big area, the actual ruins are a bit dull! Lots of rocks in a desert rocky area...you need a really good imagination or a really good guide to help you see what's there and on the day I went both were lacking!

Now I have to say in my uninformed and biased opinion that Chavin is incredibly impressive because it is so old. What remains is a cut off pyramid and a square in front of it. The guide was very keen that we should understand what good engineers they were and made us look down various holes at the drainage system that kept the whole area dry during the rainy season (the archaeologists are trying to make it work again, no luck so far) and peer through ventilation ducts inside the pyramid which got the air to circulate. At the site you can go into four galleries (corridors with rooms off them) which means going down steps and inside the pyramid where you can look at the stone roof above your head and contemplate the fact that 3,000 year old engineering is keeping the other two floors from coming down on you. But I beg to differ with the guide's suggestion that the Incas didn't know how to do stone roofs and therefore were not as good as the Chavin civilization! They built buildings in a totally different style and the materials they used were appropriate for them! Attached is a picture of a Chavin sculpture, afraid I couldn't turn it round for some reason!



So I'm not turning into an Inca apologist because I'm sure they weren't the "best" culture in Peru, just the last and the most famous (probably because they were immediately pre Conquest) but I have to say that I like their style and I particularly like their fascination with mountains and their propensity for building in incredibly difficult places with great views (who went out to find the sites I wonder and how did he decide where the next one should be?).

So if you're ever in Peru of course you should go and see Machu Picchu and the other famous Inca sites, they're incredible, but find time for some other cultures as well, you won't be disappointed.