Editing Cahuachi (section)

==Geographic and environmental overview==
The Cahuachi site is located near the south coast of Peru, and found in the Nazca Valley. Within the [[Nazca Valley]] is the Río Grande de Nazca drainage system and is where the Nazca culture developed. The area is ecologically classified as “pre-mountain desert formation.” There is a very important ecological transition going on within the Río Grande de Nazca drainage system, transitioning from pre-mountain desert zone of the coast, to chuapiyunga (meaning "between hot and cold") up towards the [[highland]]s, and east of [[Nazca|the town Nazca]] the transition to true ''[[Yunga region|yunga]]'' begins. Yunga refers to the Quechua Yungas meaning "warm valley". The site itself can be found on the southern side of the [[Nazca River]], one of ten major tributaries that form the [[Río Grande de Nazca]] drainage system. The greater Nazca Valley drainage area is very dry in the summer and extremely hot. Precipitation varies between none and 125&nbsp;mm; daytime summer temperatures average 21.3&nbsp;°C.

To the north and south Cahuachi faces two [[pampa]]s, or flat plain-like terrain: [[Pampa de San José]] and [[Pampa de Atarco]], and on these plains is where the famous [[Nasca lines|ground-drawings of the Nazca desert]] are found. The Río Grande region's soils are available for irrigation agriculture with limitations. Cahuachi is located off of the valley bottom of the treeless hills and terraces beneath Pampa de Atarco, and has been known to be subject to strong winds that are capable of becoming sandstorms. It is on these treeless hills that formed the core majority of artificial constructions at Cahuachi. There is, also present, sporadic rains and cyclical floods which result in water erosion of the terrain, which made some parts of the valley uninhabitable, which influenced the settlement pattern of Cahuachi.

Cahuachi lies over brown barren river terraces that are characterized by hills, above the bottom of the valley. Hills were modified in various ways to create civic or ceremonial centers.{{sfnp|Silverman|1993}}