The largest of the early Chavin sites, Sechin Alto was situated 1.25 miles (2 km) from Cerro Sechin from which came remarkable relief sculptures of dead or tortured prisoners.
Its vast pyramid mound measures 820 ft (250 m) by 1,000 ft (300 m) at its base and is 145 ft (44 m) high. One part of its circuit was decorated by a clay frieze, while the rest was faced with granite blocks set in clay mortar, including some huge blocks, weighing over 2 tons. These slabs were added in a later renovation of the complex.
Four rectangular plazas extend for almost a mile (1.4 km) out from the mound, three of them containing typical Chavin sunken courts. It seems that restoration and rebuilding were a continual process so the whole construction could be the result of more than 1,000 years of sporadic building.
