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CERRO MAMORCO
Preservation at this site is generally much better with some walls standing as high as 2 meters. There are three distinct groups of qollqa, all at about 3,400 m elevation. The first group is located on a northeast facing spur and consists of 19 buildings in a single row. These are situated on the brow of the spur, at the top of a steep slope. There is only one preserved window (or small door?) in the center of a downslope-facing wall. This opening measures 50 cm on a side and is located at least 1 meter above the outside base of the wall.
The second group, about 200 m northwest of the first, probably had about 15 qollqa but is now almost entirely destroyed due to the clearing and cultivation needed for agriculture. This group was located on the northeast facing slope of the hill, rather than on a spur or knoll.
The third group of qollqa is on the northernmost spur of the hill, about 300 m from the second group. Here there are two rows of qollqa arranged in a V-shape that converge on the north end. There were probably 25 to 30 buildings in this group, evenly divided between the two arms of the V. Two small trapezoidal-shape doorways are preserved in qollqa in the eastern row. Doorways face downslope and are located 32 and 35 cm above the modem exterior ground surface. One doorway measures 38 cm (lintel) x 50 cm (sill) x 60 cm (height); the other measures 38 x 52 x 65 cm.
The qollqa on Cerro Mamorco are generally larger (external measurements about 8.0 x 3.5 m) than those on Cerro Santa Barbara, but some smaller examples (about 6.0 x 3.5 m) are interspersed. Here also the long axis is oriented along the contour, and buildings are spaced 2 to 3 m apart. Wall thickness averages 50 cm. The masonry is double-faced with a rubble core, and there is little chinking. The mortar sometimes has gravel and straw inclusions; color variation, red or gray in the first group and orange in the V-shaped group, probably indicates local sources. The stone is a mixture of quarried and fieldstone, but quarried stone seems to predominate in the V-shaped group. External comers are square, but internal corners are often rounded, especially in the first group.
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