Cochasquí is one of the most extensive and most important complexes of

pre-Columbian In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era, also known as the pre-contact era, or as the pre-Cabraline era specifically in Brazil, spans from the initial peopling of the Americas in the Upper Paleolithic to the onset of European col ...

and pre-

Inca Empire The Inca Empire, officially known as the Realm of the Four Parts (, ), was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The administrative, political, and military center of the empire was in the city of Cusco. The History of the Incas, Inca ...

ruins in northern

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

. The site lies some northeast of

Quito Quito (; ), officially San Francisco de Quito, is the capital city, capital and second-largest city of Ecuador, with an estimated population of 2.8 million in its metropolitan area. It is also the capital of the province of Pichincha Province, P ...

Pedro Moncayo Canton Pedro Moncayo is a canton in the north of the Pichincha Province, Ecuador. The seat of the canton is the city of Tabacundo. The canton is named after politician Pedro Moncayo. The canton is separated by the Mojanda volcano from the canton of ...

Pichincha Province Pichincha () is a province of Ecuador located in the northern Sierra region; its capital and largest city is Quito. It is bordered by Imbabura and Esmeraldas to the north, Cotopaxi and Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas to the south, Napo and ...

at above sea level. The archaeological park of Cochasqui covers and consists of 15 truncated pyramids and 21 burial mounds, locally called ''tolas''. The site also has several small museums: an archaeological museum, two ethnographic museums, a botanical garden, and a museum with musical instruments and other items. The

Mojanda Mojanda is an inactive stratovolcano of the Eastern Cordillera of the Andes in northern Ecuador. A summit caldera, which was produced by an explosive Plinian Eruption that marked the end of Mojanda activity 200,000 years ago, is occupied by ...

volcano with a maximum elevation of looms over the site.

Description

The pyramids and other features of Cochasqui were constructed between 950 CE and the Spanish conquest in the 1530s. Their construction is attributed by archaeologists to the Quitu-Cara culture of the

Cara people The Cara or Caranqui culture flourished in coastal Ecuador, in what is now Manabí Province, in the first millennium CE. History In the 10th century AD, they followed the Esmeraldas River up to the high Andean valley of Caranqui. They were ofte ...

and/or the Caranqui people. The Cara and the Caranqui may have been the same people. Prior to the Inca conquest in the late 15th century, the

Andes The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the List of longest mountain chains on Earth, longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range ...

area of northern Ecuador seems to have been divided into many chiefdoms or statelets made up of people with similar languages and cultures. The Cayambe chiefdom may have controlled the Cochasqui area when the Incas arrived. The 15 pyramids at Cochasqui include nine with ramps and six without ramps. The largest pyramid is number nine which is north to south and east to west. It is high. The ramp leading to the pyramid is long. The primary construction material used in the pyramids is a soft volcanic stone called ''cangahua''. Vulnerable to weathering and erosion the pyramids have survived because they were overgrown with grass. Archaeologists have theorized that Cochasqui was a ceremonial and astronomical center, used for meteorological purposes to calculate solstices and aid in determining when crops should be planted. Leaders and the elite may have lived on the flat-topped pyramids and the site may have had military and political importance. The tolas were used as burial mounds as many skeletons have been discovered there. Archaeologists estimate that the pre-Columbian community of Cochasqui, including the intensely-cultivated farmland surrounding the pyramids and tolas, supported a population of 3,000 people.

Importance

The Inca assault on Cochasqui probably began at the same time or just after the Inca victory, after a long struggle, at the

Pambamarca Fortress Complex The Pambamarca Fortress Complex consists of the ruins of a large number of pukaras (hilltop forts) and other constructions of the Inca Empire. The fortresses were constructed in the late 15th century by the Incas to overcome the opposition of the ...

, to the southeast. In the opinion of one scholar, Pambamarca fell to the Incas about 1505. Cochasqui has acquired a symbolic importance in the history of Ecuador. A legend describes the Inca conquest of Cochasqui, including the union of

Quilago Quilago () was the queen regnant of Cochasquí, in modern-day Ecuador. She is known for leading native resistance to the expansion of the Inca Empire and was supposedly the mother of Atahualpa, the last Sapa Inca. Her story has become an origin my ...

(born c. 1485), the Queen of Cochasqui and the Inca Emperor,

Huayna Capac Huayna Capac (; Cuzco Quechua: ''Wayna Qhapaq'' ) (before 14931527) was the third Sapa Inca of Tawantinsuyu, the Inca Empire. He was the son of and successor to Túpac Inca Yupanqui,Sarmiento de Gamboa, Pedro; 2015, originally published in Sp ...

. For a two-year period, the Incas were unable to defeat the armies of Quilago. Finally overcome, Quilago was taken captive and forced to marry Huayna Capac. In some accounts, the offspring of this union was the future emperor

Atahualpa Atahualpa (), also Atawallpa or Ataw Wallpa ( Quechua) ( 150226 July 1533), was the last effective Inca emperor, reigning from April 1532 until his capture and execution in July of the following year, as part of the Spanish conquest of the In ...

. Quilago prepared a trap to murder Huayna Capac in her bedchamber, but was betrayed by her servants and executed. The defeat of Quilago enabled the Inca to extend their conquests to northernmost Ecuador, defeating the Caranqui in the battle of

Yawarkucha Yawarkucha or Yawar Kucha (Kichwa language, Kichwa ''yawar'' blood, ''kucha'' lake, "blood lake"), Hispanicized spellings ''Yaguarcocha, Yahuarcocha'') is a lake in Ecuador located in the eastern outskirts of the city of Ibarra, Ecuador, Ibarra i ...

. This legend has deep roots in Ecuador. A Spanish chronicler described a performance in Quito in 1613 portraying the struggle between the Inca invader and Cochasqui and the relationship between the Inca Emperor and the warrior queen. The legend explains the national origin of Ecuador as a union between the conquering Incas and the Ecuadorian Indians who struggled against foreign domination and repression, first against the Incas and later against the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

. Cochasqui is an important place for ceremonies, traditional dances,

shamanistic Shamanism is a spiritual practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with the spirit world through altered states of consciousness, such as trance. The goal of this is usually to direct spirits or spiritual energies into ...

rituals, and marriages with the emphasis on getting in touch with the ancestry of the modern-day country of Ecuador.Benavides, pp. 72-79

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cochasqui Buildings and structures in Pichincha Province Archaeological sites in Ecuador Museums in Ecuador Tourist attractions in Pichincha Province Archaeological museums in Ecuador Inca Empire