According to sources, a site located on the Pacific coast of Peru (about 200 km north of Lima) which had been known for over a hundred years made headlines all over the world in 2000. The site, known as Caral, and the cluster of eighteen similarly dated sites located in the Supe Valley are important because together they represent the earliest known urban settlement in the Americas--nearly 4,600 years before the present! Compare this time period to the Inca state which only rose during the 15th century AD; the Nasca Empire at about the time of Christ, and Teotihuacan, known for its huge pyramids outside of Mexico City, first began around 200 BC.
It was a four hour bus ride through somewhat rocky terrain at the end, following by a 30-45 minute hike through the desert before we arrived at the ruins. I teamed up with a girl from Cordoba, Argentina, a French Canadian and a student from Spain as we arrived - trying to communicate with a mixture of French, English and Spanish.
It's situated on a 200 acre site located on a dry terrace, fourteen miles inland from the Pacific Ocean. It has a central public area with six large platform mounds arranged around a huge plaza. The largest of the mounds is 60 feet high and measures 450 x 500 feet at the base. All of these mounds were built within one or two building periods, which, according to experts, suggests a high level of planning, generally associated with state level societies. The public architecture has stairs, rooms, and courtyards; and three sunken plazas which suggest a society-wide religion.
While the ruins at Caral were not even remotely close to the spectacular sight of Teotihuacan in Mexico, the history was just as fascinating, especially knowing were we standing on the grounds where the first city in all of North and South America was founded.
Enjoy the photos and to see more from this amazing place, click here.
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