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Pre-Inca Peru: The Sacred City of Caral

PERU | Wednesday, 22 January 2025 | Views [90]

Sacred City of Caral—Older than the Pyramids

Sacred City of Caral—Older than the Pyramids

WITH APOLOGIES TO RED SKELTON, we flew in to Lima yesterday and, boy, are our arms tired! The flight was only three hours long but after getting up 2:30 in the morning for the only direct flight from Salta, it’s not just our arms but our entire bodies that are tired. 

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      Classic View of Machu Picchu, a johnny-come-lately

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                        Caral-Supe—Oldest Civilization in the Americas

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                     World Heritage since 2009

Most tourists come to Peru to visit Machu Picchu—but the Incas were “johnny-come-latelys” and the Inca Empire lasted less than a century. We have already “done” Cusco and Machu Picchu and are here this time to explore pre-Inca Peru. Pre-pre-Inca, too. I am not at all excited about driving in Peru—the roads are terrible and the drivers are crazy—but with a car we won’t be limited to bus routes and schedules like we were in 2010. Fingers crossed we will survive.

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            Where the pavement ends

Hotel Punta Rocas is a jewel in noisy Huacho with nice rooms, secure parking and a great breakfast. It’s also only an hour away from the Sacred City of Caral, our latest World Heritage site. At 5,000 years, Caral-Supe is the oldest civilization in the Western Hemisphere and arguably the second oldest (behind Mesopotamia) in the world! 

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                    Caral, second only to Mesopotamia

“Never heard of it” you say? Not surprising—Caral wasn’t re-discovered until 1948. The Caral had no written language, didn’t build walled cities and manufactured no weapons. The leading Caral archeologist, Ruth Shady, is hardly a household name like Howard Carter, Arthur Evans or Hiram Bingham.

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                      Ceremonial Plaza of Caral

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                  Ruin walls of housing for the Elites of Caral

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                        The Great Pyramid of Caral

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                        The Great Pyramid of Caral

The six pyramids and two circular plazas were constructed between 2700 and 2550 BCE, when the Supe Valley was green and productive. The structures appear to be oriented towards the stars and are believed to have a ceremonial and religious purpose. The only dwellings are for the elite and there is no necropolis to explore. We learned most of this from Internet research although I’m sure Tomás, our mandatory guide at the site, told us everything . . . and more but my Spanish wasn’t up to the task. Pity Professor Paul from Norway via University of Amsterdam who joined us and didn’t speak a word of Spanish.

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                   Our guide, Tomás, and three of the lesser pyramids

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       Our new acquaintance, Professor Paul

The decline of the Caral civilization is believed to be tied to climate change that transformed the fertile Supe Valley into the desert we saw today. The towns were abandoned around 1900 BCE and no one is certain what became of the inhabitants. All that was left today was a pair of Peruvian Thick-knees patrolling the ruins.

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                     Peruvian Thick-knees on guard

 

 

 

 

 

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