HUEREQUEQUE, ‘The site of Huerequeque is located about 24 kilometers inland at an ele- vation of 425 meters on the north bank of the Sechin River. It has been. described by Williams (1972) in a discussion of circular forecourts and by Fung and Williams (1977: 123) as part of their survey of the Sechin branch of the river. Huerequeque (fig. 49) consists of a large central ‘mound and plaza complex plus small, irregular, domestic structures as- sociated with thin patches of midden—all of which cover approxi mately 35 hectares of the sloping hillside. Component structures were fabricated from cobbles and boulders readily available on the nearby slopes. The adjacent hillside is quite bare of larger stones and shows evi- dence of this quarrying. ‘The main mound is generally square in form and faces magnetic E18°S, overlooking the Sechin Valley. The top of the mound is symmetri- cally subdivided into a series of rooms, and four very large rectangular blocks of stone, which probably served as lintels, still lie near the cen- tral entrance up onto the main mound, Mound construction clearly took advantage of the steeply sloping hillside to enhance the apparent height of this central structure. Behind and separate from the main mound isa series of three small contiguous rooms with rounded corners. ‘A square plaza and an adjoining circular one extending toward the val- ley floor complete the complex. In response to the gradient of the hill- slope, the downslope peripheries of both plazas are substantially built up. This is especially true of the circular court which has walls that are sherds we encountered were a single example each of zoned graphite and combed appliqué bumps. (On the basis of architecture and ceramics, Huerequeque clearly be. longs chronologically within the Initial Period development of the Casma Valley. The architectural configuration of the main mound asso- ciated with successive square and circular courts is much like the ‘mound-plaza-circle layout of the northeastern part of Huaca A of Pampa de las Llamas-Moxeke. Ceramically, the use of graphite and plas- tic decoration such as combed appliqué bumps has been documented for the Initial Period occupation of Las Haldas immediately prior to the construction of the now-visible temple. Because of these similarities with both Pampa de I2s Llamas-Moxeke and Las Haldas, Huerequeque is tentatively assigned to a span of time which overlaps with the period of occupation of both of these more intensively studied sites. Fig. 49. Plan of Huerequeque showing the main structure with its associated rectangular and circular courts surrounded by terraces containing domestic structures. Later canals cut through the site and watered some agricultural terraces at the south end of the site.construction built on top of a hillslope rather than a hole excavated into the ground. However, close examination of other circular courts within and outside the Casma Valley reveals that most are either excavated into artificially raised surfaces or excavated only slightly into natural ground but look deeply excavated because their perimeters have been built up ‘with artificial fll. Parts of Huerequeque have been substantially altered by later pre- historic agricultural development of the zone, Numerous small canals transect the area, and one even cuts through the central structure be- tween the main mound and the square plaza (fig. 49). Associated con- struction undoubtedly transformed much of the early domestic arc! tecture into agricultural terraces. These intrusive terraces are quite clear, however, because of their long, narrow form, their association with canals, and the presence of Jate sherds of the type defined by Col- lier (1962: 416) as Casma Incised. Early ceramics occur mainly above the highest canal in areas un- affected by later terracing, as well as near the main structure. The neck- less olla was the only vessel form we observed, and the only decorated