LOOKING BACK: Festival of Native Music and Dances at Puruchuco

By Peggy Massey

Peruvian Times, March 24, 1967

Puruchuco is one of my museums. This is stated with all the arrogance of the neophyte, and it means that at some time or other I’ve written the place up. So it was with a distinct twinge of proprietary pride that I returned to Puruchuco to see the magnificent spectacle put on there by Dr. Arturo Jimenez Borja, practicing psychiatrist, spare time archaeologist and author, director of the Patronato Nacional de Arqueología, and possessor of a unique collection of Peruvian masks and costumes – only a small selection of which is seen at any one Festival performance. Read more…

History of Peru Special – Anniversary of Arequipa

For Arequipeños “abroad” – and that category includes those in Lima -  this month is a celebration of a special identity. The published program of events  in La Ciudad Blanca, as Arequipa is known, stretches over 29 days, peaking at the official Aniversario of August 15 with its magnificent street parades of dancers from all round the world.

In our series on Peruvian History  we pay tribute to the city and department of Arequipa, which has, in just 30 years, grown from 200,000 to over one million. The linguistic background of the expanded population includes that of Quechua and Aymara. Increasingly there are groups who celebrate historical roots going back much further than the 470 years  proclaimed by the Municipalidad. Read more…

History of Peru Series – Part 4: TRANSITION – The decline of Chavín and the rise of the Lima Culture: Huallamarca

By Paul Goulder – Special* to the Peruvian Times —–

We are now at 200 BC and have travelled in the series from the beginnings of the city (urbanized existence) through a long stretch of Peruvian history in which the development of monumental architecture, irrigation systems, ceramics and textiles are underpinning more complex social and political organization in the coastal valleys of what is now Peru. Read more…

History of Peru Special: FIESTAS PATRIAS 2010 – 200 years ago this week in London, Simón Bolivar “declares” independence for Hispanic America

By Paul Goulder – Special to the Peruvian Times -

Although in Peru 1821 is celebrated as the year of independence, the process of emancipation had begun much earlier and July 28 of that year was neither the beginning nor the end of the long march to independence.

Latin American communities around the world are celebrating 2010 as the 200^th anniversary of the first declarations and the formation of independent Juntas of government – free from Napoleonic Spain but in the main loyal to the usurped Spanish monarch Ferdinand and the Bourbon court. Read more…

History of Peru Series Part 3: MONUMENTAL ARCHITECTURE

By Paul Goulder, Special to the Peruvian Times

Across the world, the period 3000 BC to 500 BC (approx.) was an era of monumental architecture. Think Stonehenge (UK), Carnac (France) or the pyramids of Egypt. In the case of Peru the giant structures took on the form of truncated, flat-topped pyramid platforms – sometimes arranged in a U shape. Read more…

LOOKING BACK: Two Thousand Years Ago: Settlers on the Chillón

By James Vreeland 

Published in  The Lima Times* November 28, 1975

In 1900 BC less than 2,000 people lived in the lower Chillón Valley to the north of Lima. But for this ancient era, several centuries before the invention of pottery, such a figure could be considered a sizable coastal valley population, for many Andeans still led a sim­ple, nomadic existence, migrating from one temporary settlement to another in search of the seasonal foodstuffs available in several different ecological zones. Read more…

HISTORY OF PERU SERIES PART 2: TOUR 3000 BC to 500 AD

By Paul Goulder Special to the Peruvian Times

The second in a series on Peru’s history, incorporating stories from the Peruvian Times archives, as well as links to videos, audio and other external sources to provide a rich background of information. The first article, on the Dawn of Urbanization, was published June 23.

 

The idea of “living history tours” to touch the stones of our ancestors is not new for readers of the Peruvian Times. Dipping into the archives reveals articles written by Peggy Massey (1964) and many others some time back on key early history sites (Huallamarca in this case, which you can read online).

To these sites have been added the more recently investigated Caral and the neglected but monumental Garagay to make up our “first tour.”

A detour to the oldest and largest of Lima’s archaeological sites from the age of “grand monumental architecture” (El Paraíso) is also shown on the map of the “time tour.”

Read more…

HISTORY OF PERU SERIES PART 1: THE DAWN OF URBANIZATION

The following is the first of a series of articles on Peru’s history, incorporating stories from the Peruvian Times archives, as well as links to videos, audio and other external sources to provide a rich background of information. The first section of this series includes 20 articles, to be published in the coming weeks, beginning with the early history of Lima.  

By Paul Goulder

Special to the Peruvian Times

Together with China, India, Egypt, Iraq and Mesoamerica, Peru forged the “cradles of civilization”, the first recognizably urban areas in world history. The photo below (which, although in colour, seems mainly grey reflecting the desert materials of the site in the early morning light) shows the main pyramid and amphitheater, just one part of the complex of constructions (including six truncated, terraced, pyramid platforms) at Caral in the Norte Chico area some 180 kilometers to the north of Lima. Read more…

Peruvian historian Antonio Zapata leaves successful TV history series to return to academia

By Paul Goulder
After nine years directing a history series for national television, historian Antonio Zapata has decided it is time to go back to university to teach and do research full time.

Sucedió en el Perú has been broadcast on the national television channel, Canal 7, since 2001 and has dealt with a wide range of historical topics (are there any left to cover?). Read more…

Best social networking site for Peru’s expat community gets FB-like facelift

By Rick Vecchio
~ Peruvian Times Editor ~
Peruvian Times’ sister site Expatperu.com has undergone a major redesign with a fabulous social networking application for Peru’s English-speaking international community, or anyone interested in getting an inside view of how things really work in South America’s third largest nation. Read more…

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