Caral Peru

The Caral civilization developed in Peru’s Supe Valley more than 5,000 years ago and is generally regarded as the oldest known civilization in the Americas. Monumental construction of the Great Pyramid of Caral was underway at Caral by about 2627 BC (1, 2).

The city of Caral contained six major pyramidal buildings, together with numerous plazas, residences, ceremonial spaces, and other architectural complexes. It is sometimes described as the “City of the Pyramids,” although this is a modern nickname rather than its ancient name.

Caral’s population depended on both irrigated agriculture and resources obtained from fishing communities along the Pacific coast. Cotton, food crops, fish, and other goods were exchanged among settlements in the Supe Valley and with communities farther away. Between approximately 3000 and 2700 BC, these settlements became increasingly interconnected. During the following centuries, larger and more socially organized population centers appeared in the Supe and neighboring Pativilca valleys.

The city’s monumental development appears to have begun by approximately 2700–2600 BC. Its largest structure, commonly called the Great Pyramid or Major Pyramidal Building, was not completed in a single construction project. It was enlarged, remodeled, and rebuilt repeatedly over several centuries.

The Great Pyramid of Caral was therefore approximately contemporary with some of Egypt’s earliest monumental pyramids. Its initial construction may have occurred around the same general period as Egypt’s Step Pyramid of Djoser.

References:

1) Ruth Shady Solís, Jonathan Haas, and Winifred Creamer, “Dating Caral, a Preceramic Site in the Supe Valley on the Central Coast of Peru,” Science 292 (2001): 723–726.

2)  https://www.zonacaral.gob.pe/downloads/publicaciones/libro-caral-supe-2005-ingles.pdf

3)  https://www.incatrailmachu.com/en/travel-blog/caral-peru-pyramids

TImeline:

•  Before 3000 BC: small settlements and modest public buildings;

• 3000–2600 BC: growth of urban settlements and construction of “impressive buildings”;

• 2600–2300 BC: planned restructuring, remodeling, pyramidal façades, and addition of sunken circular plazas

• 2300–2200 BC: enlargement of public buildings, platforms, and plazas;

• Later remodeling until abandonment around 1800 BC.