Caral-Supe

Origins

From around 3000 BCE communities in the Supe, Pativilca and Fortaleza valleys north of Lima began building large platform mounds and sunken circular plazas. Caral, about 23 km inland in the Supe valley, became the largest of some twenty related sites. The culture emerged without pottery, which is why archaeologists also call this the Late Preceramic period.

Rule and society

Little is known of government, but the scale of building implies an elite able to organise labour and redistribute goods. The economy linked inland farmers, who grew cotton, squash and beans by irrigation, with coastal fishing villages such as Áspero that traded anchovies and shellfish. Cotton fishing nets were a key product. A knotted-string device found at Caral may be an early ancestor of the khipu. Flutes of condor and pelican bone suggest a rich ritual life.

Decline and legacy

Building at Caral slowed and the valley settlements were largely abandoned around 1800 BCE, perhaps after earthquakes, floods and climatic change. Excavations led by Ruth Shady from 1994 revealed its age. Caral was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2009.