ANDEAN PAST - Latin American Studies Program - Cornell University

ANDEANPAST 6 (2000)The projecting armsof the EIGalloplatformmound enclose a sunken square plaza to theeast, giving the entire mound complex a U..shape (Figure2 k). In this respect it iscompara..ble to the much larger site of Huaca LosReyesin Moche (T. Pozorski 1976, 1983; Conklin1985). The facing plaza and arms togethermeasure 68 m long (N..S)by 47 m wide (E..W).The sunken square plaza is currently2 m belowthe surrounding arms which also causes theplatform to seem more imposingwhen viewedfrom the plaza. The north..projectingarm of theU is 15m wide (N-S) and 1-2mhigherthan thesouth arm which is 19 m wide (N..S). Thesemeasurements of width were taken from theinner face of the second terrace in the interiorplaza area to the outer wall. Alongthe east faceanother raised embankment runsN-S and joinsthe north andsoutharmsoftheUto completelyenclose a square plaza approximately33 m x 33m. The east face is in a state of collapse,par..tiallyeroding down the slope.,thus obscuringthetrue configuration of this face. The currentsurface of the plaza lies above the level of theplain to the south:outside the structure. Thedepth of the final plaza floor is unknown. Onthe La Gallina side of the site the floor of thewestern plaza lay under 20 cm of alluvium.More mayhave accumulated in the closedplazaarea at El Gallo.The interior of the plaza is bordered byterraced embankments of twolevelson allsides,and a possible third step..like bench is visiblealong the east face of the ElGalloPyramid. Theretaining walls of these terraces or benches aremade of stones one course wide and deep set inmud mortar, and most of these benches surviveintact. The terraced embankments on thenorth and south are flat..topped. The highstep-like bench measures 3 m wide, while thelower terrace has an average width of 1 m andrisesonly 20 cm above the current plazasurface.Willeymentions that a number ofdividingwallswere visible on the south flankingarm summit,and in 1994 one such wall was located; how..ever, the bulk of the south arm and terraceshave been severely looted since the 1940s and..42any other walls present have been obscured bythis activity.Because the eaStface is fronted bya sunkensquare plaza, it was assumed that the .principalstairway would be located in the center of theeast face. Prior to investigation a linear align..ment oflarge boulders appeared to delineate th~right (north) side of the stairway. Clearingrevealed this right stairwaywallwasconstructedof large rectangular stones laid in mud mortar.Excavation then proceeded from the north sidewall to the south along the east face for 3.5 mwithout discovering the south side walldelimit..ing the south edge of the stairway. It is likelythat this wallhad been destroyedbythe collapseof the pyramid. .The stairs were found to be at the center ofthe"eastface, and they determined the main axisof the El Gallo pyramid complex. It is unclearwhether another stairwaywasbuilt on the westface. The clearing of the base of the stairsrevealed that the three benches or terraces thatsurrounded the interior sides of the sunkensquare plaza were also present along the eastface of the pyramid (Figure5). The floor at thebase of the pyramid stairs was compact and hadsherds imbedded in it. On the surface of thisfloor were traces ofbuming and some ash. Theeast side of the floor had been ruptured. Thepresence of many huaquero (IQOter)pits alongthe east face of the pyramid combined withscattered human remains and cultural materialfrom later periods, principallyChimu (ca. 1100-1460A.D.), illustrates the pyramid's later reuseas a cemetery, a practice common in the valley(Willey 1953).The final stairway was composed of eightstairs with a landing between steps 4 and 5 anda second landing at the top (Figure 5). Eachstep's risingface wasconstructed of a singlerowof square or rectangular stones laid in mudmortar. Each step was about 20 cm high, 25..30cm deep and had a plastered upper surface ofcompact white clay most of which was intact.On the landing some of this plastering wasalso