Amaru Muru Stairway

Steps carved into a tall reddish rock outcrop climbing toward its summit under a blue sky with white clouds. loading

Although the carved "gateway" is the most famous feature of this site, continuing to climb the stairs beyond it will lead you up through the site's unique geology, passing vertical sandstone slabs, echoing canyons, and eventually to a high mountain overlooking Lake Titacaca and the distant Andes. While I was exploring back here, I came across some fresh mountain lion scat, and then some tracks. It looked like good habitat for them to ambush prey, like the Viscacha that live around there.

Tags:
  • Amaru Muru
  • Archeology
  • Aymara
  • Geology
  • Lake Titicaca
  • Lupaca
  • Peru
  • Sandstone
  • South America
Related Photos
  • Painted Nazca ceramic effigy vessel of a seated woman giving birth, decorated with faces and geometric motifs. loading
    Nazca Childbirth Ceramic
  • Desert hillside near Palpa carved with the Observadores geoglyph figures, mountains beyond under pale sky. loading
    Geoglifo de los Observadores
  • Cylindrical Sillustani funerary tower of fitted stone with a rubble ramp on a windswept altiplano near Lake Umayo. loading
    Sillustani Chullpa Ramp
  • Red sandstone rock ridge with a large rectangular doorway carved into its face under a blue sky. loading
    Amaru Muru Sandstone Ridge
  • Gray bedrock outcrop carved with Inca staircases and channels beside sunlit water under a partly cloudy sky. loading
    Inca Qamaña
  • A large flat panel carved into a red sandstone cliff with a small doorway-like niche at its base, beneath a deep blue sky. loading
    Amaru Muru Altar
View More Photos