Tunanmarca

Tunanmarca was the capital of the Huanca (Wanka) nation, a pre-Inca settlement located at 3,859 meters elevation in the Yanamarca valley near Jauja, Peru. Occupied from approximately 1280 to 1425 AD, the complex contained around 4,300 circular stone dwellings organized around central patios, housing an estimated 16,000 inhabitants. The Wanka were warriors with strong regional identity who developed communal life based on herding, agriculture, and textile production. The site features labyrinthine defensive passages and a sophisticated water distribution system. It was the last Huanca city to surrender when Inca prince Tupac Yupanqui invaded the Mantaro Valley around 1460.