History of Huamachuco

During the Andean formative and Developmental period, small settlements grew up throughout the highlands of the Huamachuco area. The Huari people built dwellings that were simple oval-shaped single rooms made of field stones, with floors of clay. These structures were used in the agricultural communities mainly for storage of crops and other goods, and sleeping.

The hamlets at higher elevations (3900-4000 m.) were bases for their herding of domesticated animals, as agriculture could not survive at those heights. The settlements in the lower