Zaña River

The Zaña River (also Saña River) is a small river in northern Peru. The river is 119 kilometres (74 mi) in length and begins in the Andes of Cajamarca Region and ends at the Pacific Ocean in Lambayeque Region. In the lower part of the river valley, where the river flows through the coastal desert of Peru, the cultivation of irrigated crops is extensive and the Zaña is usually dry near its mouth. Upriver, at higher elevations in the Andes, precipitation is much greater and downstream floods are common. One such flood wiped out the important city of Zaña in 1720. Zaña has been rebuilt, but has never regained its former prominence as an urban center. Other towns in the lower valley are Mocupe, Cayalti, Nueva Arica, and Oyotun.[3][4]

Zaña River
The Zaňa River near its mouth.
Location
PeruLambayeque, Cajamarca regions
Physical characteristics
Source 
 • location6.999°S 76.940°W / -6.999; -76.940
 • elevation3,750 metres (12,300 ft)
Mouth 
 • location
6.928°S 78.893°W / -6.928; -78.893
 • elevation
0 m (0 ft)
Length119 kilometres (74 mi)
Basin size2,158 square kilometres (833 sq mi)[1]
Discharge 
 • average202 million m3 (annual); 6.5 m3 per second average [2]

Vegetation

The semi-tropical forests found at elevations above 2,000 metres (6,600 ft) in the upper parts of the Zaña basin are an unusual feature of the river. The existence of the forests is due to the relatively low elevations of the Andes in this region between the desert coasts of western Peru and the rainforests of the Amazon Basin of the east. Plant and animal species characteristic of the Amazon are found here on the western slopes of the Andes. The Peruvian government recognized the uniqueness of the forests in 2010 by creating the "Reserved Zone of Udima" consisting of 30,503 hectares (75,370 acres) of land overlooking the headwaters of the Zaña.[5]

Archaeology

Numerous pre-Columbian ruins are scattered throughout the basin of the Zaña River. Near the Nanchoc river, a tributary of the Zaňa, archaeologist Tom Dillehay has found what may be the oldest irrigation canals in the Americas, radiocarbon dated to at least 3400 BCE and possibly as old as 4700 BCE. The canals built by the people of Nanchoc at that time were utilized to irrigate crops such as peanuts, squash, manioc, and chenopods, a relative of Quinoa.[6]

In 2019, Peruvian archaeologist Walter Alva discovered the ruins of a megalithic temple in the Zaña Valley near Oyotun. The temple, apparently belonging to the Chavin culture (900 to 200 BCE), is 50 metres (160 ft) long and 40 metres (130 ft) wide and built of stones weighing up to three tons. The stones were dragged at least 1.5 kilometres (0.93 mi) to the temple site. The temple is believed by Alva to be part of a larger complex.[7]

The ruins of Zaña, destroyed by a flood in 1720.

References
  1. "Resumen Ejecutivo: Delimitacion de Faja Margina del Rio Zana" (PDF). Instituto Nacional de Recursos Naturales. Ministry of Agriculture, Peru. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
  2. Shimada, Izumi (1994). Pampa Grande and the Mochica Culture. Austin: University of Texas Press. p. 42. ISBN 9780292723375.
  3. "Zaña, Peru: The Town That Almost Was". National Geographic (blogs). Retrieved 2016-03-08.
  4. Google Earth
  5. Angulo Pratolongo, Fernando. "El Valle del rio Zana donde la selva se encuentra con las costas". Xilema. Universidad Agraria Le Molina. Retrieved 29 November 2020.
  6. Dillehay, Tom D.; Eling, Jr., Herbert H.; Rossen, Jack. "Preceramic irrigation canals in the Peruvian Andes" (PDF). PNAS. National Academy of Science. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
  7. McDermott, Alicia. "Water Cult's Megalithic Temple in Peru was Re-Purposed for Death". Ancient Origins. Retrieved 21 November 2020.
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