Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Caral
Just a couple of hundred kilometers north of Lima on the Pacific coast sits one of the most
exciting archaeological sites in Peru. It may not look like much - half a dozen temple
mounds, a few sunken amphi theaters and remnants of structures crafted from adobe and
stone - but it is. This 626-hectare spot is the oldest known city in the Americas: Caral.
Situated in the Supe Valley, this Preceramic civilization developed almost simultan-
eously with the ancient cultures of Mesopotamia and Egypt about 5000 years ago, and it
predates the earliest civilizations in Mexico by about 1500 years. Caral was not a militar-
istic settlement, but a religious one that venerated its holy men and paid tribute to un-
known agricultural deities (at times, with human sacrifice). They cultivated crops such as
cotton, squash and beans and were knowledgeable fishers. Archaeological finds at the site
include textiles, necklaces, ceremonial burials and crude, unbaked clay figurines depicting
female forms.
Much of the complex has yet to be excavated - expect further discoveries.
Chavín
If Caral provides the earliest signs of functional
urban settlement, then Chavín de Huántar, near
Huaraz, is evidence of a unified religious and
artistic iconography. In a broad swath of the
northern Andes, from roughly 1000 BC to 300
BC, a common culture arose around a toothy fe-
line deity that appears on carvings, friezes, pot-
tery and textiles from the era. There is only
patchy information available on Chavín and the
structure of its societies, but its importance is
without question: in Peru, this moment repres-
ents the birth of art.
It is still debated whether the temple at
Chavín de Huántar was a capital or a single ce-
remonial site, but what is without doubt is that
the setting is extraordinary. With the stunning
Cordillera Blanca as a backdrop, the remnants
of this elaborate ceremonial complex - built
over hundreds of years - include a number of
Archaeology
Museums
1 MUSEO LARCO (
CLICK HERE
), LIMA
2 MUSEO TUMBAS REALES DE SIPÁN (
CLICK HERE
), LAMBAYEQUE
3 MUSEO INKA (
CLICK HERE
), CUZCO
