Rescuing the Rescue Room: the future archaeological park of Cajamarca and its connection with the last Inca

The story of Cajamarca It seems to have frozen in 1532. At that time when the collision between two cultures that gave rise to today’s Peru occurred. From that moment, described by Spanish chroniclers, there remains today a monument known as the Ransom Room, the remains of a palace in which, it is said, a captive Atahualpa offered gold and silver in exchange for his freedom. But what lies beyond this story? What remains hidden beneath this archaeological context adjacent to the Plaza de Armas? That is what a team of researchers from Harvard University and the University of Engineering and Technology (UTEC) are asking, who are developing a project financed by the Municipality of Cajamarca and local companies currently focused on excavating in the surroundings of the mythical room, what had not been done in 500 years.

The objective is to create an archaeological park, between Amalia Puga and Del Comercio streets, that connects the Cuarto del Rescate with the monumental area of ​​Cajamarca. And along the way, learn more about the Inca and colonial lithic constructions for their enhancement and conservation.

Stone memory

From the top of the Santa Apolonia hill you can see the entire urban layout of Cajamarca. The silhouettes of the domes of its churches, its reddish roofs that shine under the vertical midday sun, and the countryside at the edge of the mountain range. Although it has a Christian name, this hill was an ancient volcanic rock quarry, and a ceremonial center occupied by the ancient Cajamarca people 3,000 years ago, when it was the epicenter of a prosperous valley dedicated to camelid breeding and textile production.

The Peruvian archaeologist Solsiré Cusicanqui Marsano, a researcher at Harvard University, carried out excavations in this place four years ago and found remains of camelids and ceramics typical of the Cajamarca culture, but also bullets from the Republican era. Motivated by these findings, last November, she and a team of local archaeologists, in collaboration with conservationists, geological engineers and chemists from UTEC, began excavations in areas surrounding the Rescue Room.

“My interest was to know the Cajamarca culture, but then I began to look for answers for the Inca period. We know that this room was part of the temple of the sun, but we do not know more. We do not know what the layout of the city was like. We try to reinterpret the past from the local vision and not just stay with what was said by Spanish chroniclers,” says Cusicanqui.

A past that is connected to the Santa Apolonia hill. “The front section of the hill and the entire city of Cajamarca is based on that bedrock. That’s why we call these excavations ‘the memory of the stones’,” he explains.

Layers of history

The excavations are taking place in a building that until recently was the Casa Hogar de la Niña Belén, whose interior wall adjoins the Rescue Room. After digging trenches three meters deep, fragments of fine Republican porcelain, colonial glazed ceramics, a crucifix, animal bone remains, Inca ceramics and typical Cajamarca pieces have begun to emerge. A history of thousands of years just a few meters from the ground.

The findings are being analyzed in a nearby laboratory, where their origin and chemical composition have been traced. It is now known, for example, that a piece of ceramic served as a chicha container, as traces of fermented corn starch were detected inside.

As engineer Juan Carlos Rodríguez, director of the UTEC Heritage Research and Conservation Center, explains, science and technology help archeology a lot. “We want to focus on the analysis of the stones to know if they are affected and propose adequate conservation,” he says.

The research work will continue throughout the year. It is then hoped to articulate the Rescue Room (currently isolated inside a mansion) with the surrounding environment as a kind of open museum.