Peru’s Other ‘Lost City’ Preserves the Oldest Known Civilization in the Americas

25.09.2024 - 14:46 / matadornetwork.com

Predating the Inca Empire by four millennia, a far-flung desert settlement in northern Peru preserves the oldest known civilization in the Americas. Although now inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a natural warm-up for the Sacred Valley, Caral and its astonishingly intact pyramids and sunken plazas have evaded the limelight since their rediscovery 30 years ago.

Perched on an alluvial plain in the Supe Valley, the pre-Columbian Sacred City of Caral is an offbeat day trip from Lima. Visitors to Peru’s “other” Lost City are slim on the ground and circuiting America’s oldest ruins means being a fly on the wall at an ongoing dig where researchers excavate daily.

The Zona Arqueológica Caral (ZAC) is committed to responsible tourism and overcoming poverty. Training local villagers as mandatory archaeological guides, supporting non-industrialized agriculture, and marking celestial events with night camps upholds northern Peru’s cultural heritage while boosting the economy.

Photo: rjankovsky /Shutterstock

A three-hour drive from the perpetually foggy Lima follows the Panamericana Norte through desert and multiple zonas de neblina. Yet, as our guide reported, the Supe Valley is eternally sunny (double-up on sunscreen). The Supe River skims the northeast border creating a surreal desert oasis. Fertile pockets of avocado, corn, passionfruit, and chili dot the 14 miles between the city and coast. These same plots were likely used by pre-Columbian farmers and, paired with crystal-clear night skies, give historians a clue why Caral became the center of an astrally astute community dependent on agriculture and religious rituals.

Peruvian archaeologist Ruth Shady Solís wasn’t the first on the scene but she was the first to suspect there was more to those dusty mounds than met the eye. In 1994, Dr. Shady’s team began unraveling South America’s mother culture.

Photo: rjankovsky /Shutterstock

The 5,000-year-old city, contemporary to Mesopotamia and Egypt’s Pyramid of Djoser, was a planned urban center. Our guide explained how Caral’s pyramids were oriented by the stars and deities while residences and the amphitheater and other monuments correspond to a calendar system. A monolith known as the Huanca was used for astronomy and the tip of an observatory has been found.

Six stepped pyramids have been unearthed so far, with the Greater Pyramid dominating the landscape. Unbaked clay figurines and seashell charms were excavated in internal chambers, confirming these were ceremonial centers. Some artifacts are inscribed with a swirl motif similar to the Moray terraces. Its appearance on the 2011 rebrand of Peru’s tourist board solidifies Caral’s value.

Climbing Caral’s sacred pyramids isn’t allowed but the paths bring you