Among rock shelters, ceremonial structures, houses, terraces, and funerary chambers is the cemetery of Los Pinchudos, a key feature of the National Park of Río Abiseo. Los Pinchudos was the ancient burial ground of the Chachapoyas, a people who once thrived between the eastern flank of the Andean Cordillera and the lowland rainforests of the Amazon Basin. (...)
Among rock shelters, ceremonial structures, houses, terraces, and funerary chambers is the cemetery of Los Pinchudos, a key feature of the National Park of Río Abiseo. Los Pinchudos was the ancient burial ground of the Chachapoyas, a people who once thrived between the eastern flank of the Andean Cordillera and the lowland rainforests of the Amazon Basin. The cemetery dates to the 13th century and contains eight ornate clay and stone burial chambers, known as chulpas, topped with wooden roofs decorated with colorful patterns and anthropomorphic sculptures. While the National Park was recognized as a Protected Natural Area by Supreme Decree in 1983, and inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1990, continual seismic activity, exposure to the harsh tropical environment, and vandalism had brought the structures at Los Pinchudos to the verge of collapse.
