El Paraiso Reading Response to El Paraiso for iar221

Rachel Godley

El Paraiso is located in Peru on the southern bank of the Chillon River. It was estimated to be built around 1800 BCE.

El Paraiso was designed in the form of what now looks like a maze. The different stacks and layers of rooms are built upon each other over time, and no one really knows why.

I Believe that whoever designed this created the maze like rooms to make it difficult for intruders to find their cotton since their cotton was their source of income. They could have designed the layered community to keep the city from flooding since they were close to the bank of the Chillon River

The city has no indication of a center focus or central ruler. From this we can assume that the city was city that believed strongly in community, and focused on each other rather than one person.

Sources:

http://www.arqueologiadelperu.com.ar/paraiso.htm

A Global History of Architecture