Usnu ( Quechua for

altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in pagan ...

/ a special platform for important celebrations,Diccionario Quechua - Español - Quechua, Academía Mayor de la Lengua Quechua, Gobierno Regional Cusco, Cusco 2005 also spelled ''Ushno'') is an archaeological site in

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = National seal , national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...

. It is located in the

Ayacucho Region Ayacucho () is a department and region of Peru, located in the south-central Andes of the country. Its capital is the city of Ayacucho. The region was one of the hardest hit in the 1980s during the guerrilla war waged by Shining Path known as ...

, Vilcas Huamán Province, Vilcas Huamán District, in the town

Vilcashuamán Vilcashuamán or Vilcasguaman (from Quechua Willka Waman, "sacred hawk") is the capital of Vilcas Huamán Province, Ayacucho region, Peru. It is located at an altitude of 3,490 m on the eastern slopes of the Andes. It is located on an ancient ar ...

.mincetur.gob.pe
"Ushno", pirámide ceremonial, retrieved on January 31, 2014 The site was declared a National Cultural Heritage ''(Patrimonio Cultural)'' of Peru on April 11, 2000. Leon states Vilcas was a principal and very important place in the Incan kingdom. "There were beautiful buildings and a temple with great wealth." The natives, "burned the most important of them and removed the sacred women and treasures so that the Spaniards could not take advantage of them. Two royal highways, if not three, lead from this lacethat they call Vilcas."Leon, P., 1998, The Discovery and Conquest of Peru, Chronicles of the New World Encounter, edited and translated by Cook and Cook, Durham: Duke University Press,

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Usnu, Ayacucho Archaeological sites in Peru Archaeological sites in Ayacucho Region