Vicus Archaeological Area

The Vicús culture occupied the high zone of Piura and this site, the most extensive cemetery in the culture, was discovered by grave-robbers — or “huaqueros” — in the late 1950s, in the Frias zone of Ayabaca Province. During the 1960s archaeologists moved in and studied the Vicus peak, excavating an extensive area. It’s calculated that during the years when the site was exploited, robbers looted more than 2,000 tombs, with more than 40,000 specimens finding their way into private collections overseas.