Reaching Kuelap will soon be effortless

Soon visitors will be able to reach the citadel of Kuelap, high in the Andes, in a comfortable tramway. The environmental studies have already been done in order to preserve its natural environment and to avoid affecting the scenery. There is also a plan to prepare the locals to help protect the site, as well as to take advantage of the tourism industry in order to benefit their community.

The Chachapoyas, a fierce people that for years resisted the Inca colonization, built Kuelap around 800 A.D. Its three entrances are narrow alleys between high walls of stones that become narrower as they reach the upper level; probably, a security measure used to control who entered the city on those days. In the citadel, there are 420 circular stone buildings made with rhombus and zigzag designs around them, as well as carved stones with animal and anthropomorphic motifs surrounded by beautiful orchids and bromeliads.

Ancient Farming in Peru

A team of anthropologists working in the northern Peruvian Andes has discovered the earliest-known evidence of peanut, cotton and squash farming dating back 5,000 to 9,000 years according to the June 29th, 2007 issue of Science. This discovery provides long-sought evidence some of the early development of agriculture in the New World took place in the Andes. The squash was dated from about 9,200 years ago, the peanut from 7,600 years ago and the cotton from 5,500 years ago.

http://www.reuters.com/article/scienceNews/idUSN2842559620070628