Museo de Sitio Arqueológico Kuntur Wasi

The Museo de Sitio Arqueológico Kuntur Wasi exhibits artifacts from the Kuntur Wasi archaeological site, including ceramics, gold pieces, and stone sculptures.

Planning your visit

Kuntur Wasi is a ceremonial centre in the northern Peruvian highlands, occupied from around 1100 BC, and its significance rests on a discovery made in 1989: Japanese archaeologists excavating the site found intact elite tombs containing gold crowns, ear ornaments and pectorals of extraordinary workmanship, among the earliest worked gold found anywhere in the Americas.

The site museum was built to keep those finds in the community rather than removing them to Lima, and it was funded substantially by the local population and Japanese partners — a model of local custodianship unusual in Peruvian archaeology. The gold pieces are displayed alongside ceramics, stone sculpture and material from the excavations.

The site itself, on a hilltop with terraced platforms and carved stone monoliths, can be walked, and the setting over the surrounding valleys is part of the visit.

It sits near San Pablo in Cajamarca department, reached on a rough road. Bookable options include excursions from Cajamarca to the site and museum. Current availability is listed below.