The present work is a synthesis of the investigations carried out in the lower valley of the Chancay river, focused on recognizing, recording and analyzing the cultural expressions materialized in the historical buildings existing in the vicinity of Caqui, former hacienda house of the district of Aucallama in the province of Huaral, department of Lima. The interest is in contextualizing the aesthetic works incorporated in architecture, perceiving them in relation to their spatial geographical environment, as well as the social processes in which they were inserted temporarily, in order to understand their social meaning. In this sense, two types of expression of different contexts are exposed: the mural representations of the Chancay society in ancient Peru, and the murals associated with the ‘haciendas’ system of the beginning of the Republic.

The present work is a synthesis of the investigations carried out in the lower valley of the Chancay river, focused on recognizing, recording and analyzing the cultural expressions materialized in the historical buildings existing in the vicinity of Caqui, former hacienda house of the district of Aucallama in the province of Huaral, department of Lima. The interest is in contextualizing the aesthetic works incorporated in architecture, perceiving them in relation to their spatial geographical environment, as well as the social processes in which they were inserted temporarily, in order to understand their social meaning. In this sense, two types of expression of different contexts are exposed: the mural representations of the Chancay society in ancient Peru, and the murals associated with the ‘haciendas’ system of the beginning of the Republic.

We present some unpublished records about the archaeological heritage that has suffered irreversible damages in the present century in the central coast valleys, between Chancay, Lurín, Chilca and Cañete. The documents are only a random sample of an accelerated process of destruction, often ignored, which is also taking place in many other sites. It is a reflection on the irreparable loss of a series of technological and symbolic kinds of knowledge –which were embodied in spatial distributions, in designs and buildings, and in complex graphic expressions–, which involve the government’s systematic forgetfulness. It has been unable to articulate the temporal and dynamic relationship between ancestral production, communities and the idea of “social development” that resists the rationales of sustainability.  

We present some unpublished records about the archaeological heritage that has suffered irreversible damages in the present century in the central coast valleys, between Chancay, Lurín, Chilca and Cañete. The documents are only a random sample of an accelerated process of destruction, often ignored, which is also taking place in many other sites. It is a reflection on the irreparable loss of a series of technological and symbolic kinds of knowledge –which were embodied in spatial distributions, in designs and buildings, and in complex graphic expressions–, which involve the government’s systematic forgetfulness. It has been unable to articulate the temporal and dynamic relationship between ancestral production, communities and the idea of “social development” that resists the rationales of sustainability.