Lawriqucha River (Huánuco Quechua lawri bluish,Diccionario Quechua - Español - Quechua, Academía Mayor de la Lengua Quechua, Gobierno Regional Cusco, Cusco 2005: Lawri - s. Hist. (etim. De un dialecto huanuqueño: azulado). Cementerio inkaico en la provincia de Chankay, Lima, Perú. Quechua qucha lake, lagoon,Teofilo Laime Ajacopa, Diccionario Bilingüe Iskay simipi yuyayk'ancha, La Paz, 2007 (Quechua-Spanish dictionary): qucha, qhucha, quchacha. - s. Laguna. Lago pequeño. qucha, qhucha. - s. Lago. Gran masa de agua en una depresión. "bluish lake", hispanicized spelling Lauricocha) is a river in the Huánuco Region in Peru. It belongs to the watershed of the Marañón River. The river is named after the lake Lawriqucha or Lauricocha.
The Lawriqucha River originates in a small glacial lake called Niñococha in the Raura mountain range at an elevation of .Google Earth Pro, coord: -10.456322, -76,756823 In 1952 this lake was identified as the source of the Amazon River by an English explorer, Sebastian Snow. Several other sources of the Amazon have been proposed. From Niñococha the river flows north through the Raura mine to Lake Lauricocha."Sebastian Snow," (7 May 2001) The Telegraph, , accessed 6 Oct 2018Google Earth Pro, coord:-10.313315, -76.700480 Extensive mining began in the headwaters of the Lauricocha in 1927. The Raura mine is one of the highest in the world operating up to an elevation of . The extensive area of mining activity has polluted some of the area's lakes and interrupted the flow of the river.
Near Lauricocha Lake is a stone bridge across the river, dating back to the Inca Empire and still in use for horse and foot travel, and the Lauricocha caves where archaeologists have found evidence of human habitation 10,000 years ago.Enock, Reginald (1905), "The Ruins of 'Huanuco Viejo' or Old Huanuco, with Notes on an Expedition to the Upper Marañon," The Geographic Journal, Vol. 26, No. 2, page 162. Downloaded from JSTOR.Fehren-Schmitz; L, Llamas, B.; Lindauer, S.; et al (2015), "A Re-Appraisal of Early Andean Human Remains from Lauricocha in Peru," PLOS ONE, Vol. 10, No. 6, page 2. DOI:10.1371 The river continues flowing north near the villages of Cauri (Kawri), Jesús and Jivia. Near the town of Rondos (Runtus) the Lawriqucha joins the Nupe River to form the Marañón. The elevation at the junction of the rivers is .Google Earth Pro, coord:-9.988197, -76.683124
The total length of the Lawriqucha River, in straight-line distance from Niñococha Lake to its junction with the Nupe, is about .Google Earth Pro, coord: -9.988197, -76.683124 to coord: -10.456322, -76.756823 A U.S. intelligence agency map of the area calls the lower portion of the Lauricocha River the Quebrada Linda ("Beautiful Gorge").
References