by Jacob Lentz ’27 and Rhys Cadigan ‘27
It grew eerily quiet as we entered the temple of the crossed hands (Templo de Las Manos Cruzadas). Everyone in the class was scoping out the walls, noticing all the engraved slots that were used as holders for sacrifices. Our attention was drawn to the 2 sets of crossed hands. On the left we see the male right over left (also in the replica) and it’s across the female left over right. These symbols show duality and unity between man and woman as they come together. We could feel the warmth of the previous fires that originated in the center of the room. These fires were used for the sacrifices leaving just the ashy remains. As we observed the engraved slots, we were informed that the varying sizes were used for different types of animals, such as guinea pig.
There were many interesting things about Kotosh and the surrounding area. One of the notable geographic formations of Kotosh is the “Quadruplet Mountains”. These mountains, when viewed from a certain perspective, make up the shape of a closed fist, which is very pretty when viewed with the nature surrounding the temple grounds.
Another interesting phenomenon to note was the central circle of the temple grounds. It was explained to the group that this circle had a special magnetic center and also abnormal acoustics. It was demonstrated that when standing at the center of the circle, it seemed as though when a person talked it was amplified and seemed much louder. Other neat auditory demonstrations included standing in a circle around the center and hearing the person opposite as if they were standing directly next to you. It remains unclear to us whether or not these auditory phenomena are caused by the supposed magnetic field of the circle or whether it is due to the surrounding structures and how they reflect sound waves. Either way, everyone had a fantastic time exploring the temple grounds and admiring the scenic vista nestled in the mountains of Huánuco.
