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Only 6km from Huanuco along the La Union road, the fascinating, though poorly maintained, Temple of Kotosh lies in ruins on the banks of the Rio Tingo. At more than four thousand years old, this site predates the Chavin era by more than a thousand years. Between 1960 and 1962 a team of Japanese archeologists excavated the large mound which had been created by the fallen debris of the original temple: its occupation proved to span six phases, the first town of which falls into the Early Agricultural Period, when ceramic arts were beginning to develop rapidly. Potsherds found here bear clear similarities to works from the lower jungle areas. The first evidence of massive stone constructions from about 2000 BC suggests that complicated building work began here centuries before anywhere else on the American continent. More or less permanent settlement continued here throughout the Chavin era (though without the monumental masonry and sculpture of that period) and Inca occupation, right up to the Conquest. One unique feature of the Kotosh complex is the crossed-hands symbol carved prominently in stone - the gracefully executed insignia of a very early culture about which archeologists know next to nothing. To get to the site, you can either walk along the La Union road, or take the La Union bus from Huanuco, and ask the driver to drop you off at the path to Kotosh. Alternatively, a guided tour from Huanuco will cost around $10 per person, or a taxi from the Plaza de Armas will cost around $8.
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