Cumbemayo is home to the ruins of a pre-Incan aqueduct that is more than eight kilometers long. The aqueduct is thought to be one of the oldest existing structures in South America (built around 1500 BC!) and was used to transport rainwater to the Pacific Ocean. Cumbemayo is also known for its “rock forest” composed of rocks of volcanic origin that have been carved by the effects of erosion. There were rocks shaped like a dolphin, condors, and people!
While on our trip, we also visited Las Ventanillas de Otuzco. Las Ventanillas de Otuzco is another archeological site located about eight kilometers north of Cajamarca. Las Ventanillas are funeral niches shaped like windows (ventanilla is "window" in Spanish) and carved into a mountainside. They were used as a cemetery by ancient civilizations, and being buried in places like Las Ventanillas de Otuzco wwas seen as a ritual for the ancestors of these civilizations.
