Between Morán Mount and Platillos

A trekking trail connecting at least three sites with archaeological evidence in Malingas.

 

Photographs gathered by Milton Garcia Navarro

 

TAMBOGRANDÉ, Peru – In 2011, FACTORTIERRA announced to the world the existence of an archaeological rests network that could be until 4000 years old, located at the central part of Malingas Community. Basically, it’s about evidences of art-on-the-rock on and around Malingas Cord, a branch formed by five mounts apparently caused by volcanic activity judging the basalt that mostly forms their slopes.

More than a decade later, it’s starting to value the touristic potential the zone has, despite the sites have not officially confirmed yet, they just have a preliminary survey by the archaeologist Daniel Dávila Manrique, the first scientific explorer of the zone between 2010 and 2011.

“I’d like to return, make a new survey of every site,” Dávila said to FACTORTIERRA, when he learned about the initiative of giving them a touristic use. In fact, he thinks that a way  to promote and conserve them is thinking about a future archaeological park for Malingas.

One of the evidences that called the attention much is a petroglyph located at the summit of Morán Mount, the highest of Malingas Cord (1017 feet altitude, according to Dávila’s survey in 2011), that could be part of the so-called Samanga Tradition, a type of stylized art that could be developed during the Formative Period (2000 to 200 BC) across the eastern half of Piura Department when the people, maybe Amazonian origin, still migrated looking for water and lands before the first cultures formed. Similar rests are appreciated along Quiroz sub-Basin,and also Sapillica as FACTORTIERRA verified it in 2016.

 

The Milton’s Route

At the base of Morán Mount, Cruz Verde Village (a little more than 600 inhabitants), lives the Tourism graduate Milton Garcia Navarro who, interested in the investigation made by FACTORTIERRA, asked what would happen if the sites could be used for tourism. Near his house, there is a petroglyph, or a drawing carved on the rock, known as Monkey’s because the shape suggests an ape although it doesn’t exist in actual historic times.

A Little further, in Cruz Verde School, there are still bowls sculpted on some little rocks that just reach below your knees, depending on your height. Archaeologist Dávila suggests they were made by rubbing sandd with a rock doing circle movements. As the outer layers of the stone break much easily, the circle pattern was relatively simple to get. Its use is not clear yet.

Milton recommends from here to start a 1.5-hour climb, in normal physical condition, toward Morán Mount’s summit to find a petroglyph designed within three huge rocks looking like an altar. Let’s add that from the Summit it’s posible to see a beautiful view of the whole San Lorenzo Valley until El éreo Mount (2113 feet altitude) located about 31 miles away. Turning around, it’s possible to see Districts Chulucanas and La Matanza until Vicús Mount (1579 feet altitude), located about 19 miles to the south.

With the  strength recovered, you go downhill leaving Cruz Verde aside until getting to Platillos (324 feet altitude), with its enigmatic hill made of pure rock which summit has some sculpted bowls those give the town’s name in Spanish. The view of Malingas Cord and the Andean Range is overwhelming. It’s also the end of the Trail. According to Daniel Dávila, its clear this place could have a ceremonial purpose, it seems to be near the suggested trace for the Coastal Inca Trail which he also explored between 2010 and 2011.

According to Milton Garcia Navarro, going between both points just needs one morning or one afternoon to take. It’s possible to access from Tambograndé City, (13 miles) as much as Chulucanas City (16 miles). For more information, you can contact him on his Facebook account.

 

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