Excavations near Ayacucho, Peru, have revealed a series of elaborate stone funnel-traps and ritual platforms dating back to the Wari Empire (600-1000 CE). These structures provide the first definitive archaeological link between modern-day Chaccu festivals—where local communities gather to shear wild vicuñas—and the state-sponsored religious ceremonies of the ancient Andes.
Archaeologists found ceremonial drinking vessels (keros) and burnt offerings of camelid hair within the enclosures, suggesting that the rounding up of these sacred animals was as much a spiritual event as an economic one. Researchers believe these sites hosted thousands of participants in a display of communal labor and divine gratitude.