Caral: The Oldest City in the Americas

We had heard about Caral being the oldest city in all of the Americas (Caral existed 5000 years ago -- so it existed in the same time frame as the Egyptians building their great pyramids), so off we went.  Caral is about 120 miles north of Lima and 14 miles from the Pacific coast on the Supe River.  Well, there are actually five river valleys north of Lima close to that area, and together they are called "Norte Chico"; they all have archeological sites similar to Caral.  But Caral is clearly the dominant site.

This map shows that the main Caral site is quite extensive. We entered the site at the upper right hand corner (where the finger pointing hand is), walked to the lower right hand corner where the tourist services are and then did more walking (on a WARM day), as we visited the ancient city.

Our expectations were that we would be touring another mud-brick city with which we had already become familiar.  We were wrong. The city site is huge (some 165 acres), and the many buildings that dominate the site are made of stone. The city can best be described somewhat by saying what the city was NOT.

The city did NOT have ceramics.  This means they had to roast their food or use hot stones to do their cooking.  They used gourds as containers, cups, plates, etc, used carved wooden spoons and plates, used stone mortars, and sea shells (and Julie has been complaining about the cooking utensils in the condo we are renting -- hmmm).  

The people did NOT have a written language.  However a quipu (the knotted string technique used to contain accounting information and perhaps more that that) was found in one of the temples, and a carved drawing on a stone of a quipu has also been found. These finds are dramatic.  We know the Incas used quipus, but the Inca did not arise until over three thousand years later.

The people did NOT have corn or any cereal grain crop (no bread!) They did use the Supe River for irrigation and had food such as beans, sweet potatoes, chili, squash, avocados, pacay (large podded fruit with big seeds and an edible white pulp), and guayaba (a type of pomegranate.)  However, they DID raise cotton and apparently traded cotton products for fish products (Caral was not a fishing city - Caral is 14 miles from the Pacific)

A view of the Supe River from the city gives one an idea of how important the river and irrigation were to support some 3000 citizens that are thought to have lived there.

The people did NOT have decorative art. There are no stone sculptures, no reliefs on their walls, no painted murals or patterns on their walls and, of course, no decorated ceramics.  They did have sun-baked statuettes and painted their walls yellow and red. Musical instruments have been found on the site (flutes and small musical horns), and it would appear they enjoyed music. 

The people did NOT have metalwork. No beginning knowledge of metallurgy has been found.

War is NOT in evidence. Fortifications, armaments, violent sacrifices, etc are not present.

The city is thought to have been in existence for over 1000 years and may have vanished due to a severe drought as people moved to other sites.

But they DID have central planning that allowed them to build these huge stone buildings, irrigate and grow food, use cotton textiles, trade with other areas, have a beginning of a theology (fire and a creator god), live in peace and thrive for over 1000 years. This certainly qualifies them to be called a culture.  Agreed?

Irrigation allowed the people to raise sufficient food and allowed them to spend time and energy to construct stone buildings. There is much stone in the area to use, but the method of "filling" in their structures is unique.  We have visited other sites where the "fill" in a pyramid or platform was mud bricks or even just sand and rubble. 

Here they used the "shicra bag" technique. A durable long grass known as shicra was gathered in the mountains that dominate the area, and then the grass was braided into loosely meshed bags.  The bags were used to collect stones and the bag and stones were then used as "fill." With this technique, step pyramids were built 70 feet tall. Eventually, these shicra bags were important artifacts when Carbon-14 dating was used to determine the age of Caral.

A very small example of a shicra bag filled with river stones. Most contained about 40 pounds and others were as large as 100 pounds.

An example of fill using stone-filled shicra bags.

Our walking tour consisted of looking at five major pyramid buildings (they have found many more than that though).  The pyramids have the same design:  they are step pyramids, and as they grew over time, the inner rooms and spaces were be filled to form a new level (or step).  Remember these are structures that are thousands of years old.

The archeologists seem to understand what these complexes should have looked like. Above is the Amphitheater Pyramid drawing.  Note the entrance way on the left and then the sunken plaza, and then on top (far right) are the temple rooms.

The sunken plaza or the Amphitheater Pyramid. It was in this pyramid that the archeologists found 32 flutes made of condor and pelican bones and 38 musical horns made of deer and llama bones, a sling, an anthropomorphic figure of unbaked clay, etc.  We were not allowed to enter the complexes or go to the top of the pyramids.

Here are entrance rooms and walls that led into the above sunken plaza at the Amphitheater Pyramid.  We are in the desert and drifting sand will accumulate on the structures.

A small temple dedicated to fire. Note the air draft hole at the bottom middle of the structure.  In the ash, the archeologists found fragments of a gourd, bones, seeds and quartz.

The flags on the Galleria complex are meant as "scarecrows" to avoid bird droppings on the building.  In this pyramid the archeologists found these items as part of the fill: a woman’s cotton dress, two reed mats, two groups of polished whale vertebrae set around a tree trunk wrapped in a fiber cloth -- 9 and 16 vertebra in each group (chairs?), needles made of animal bone, a group offering of a quipu, four flutes, a sandal, mollusks, vegetables, an unbaked clay male figure statuette, etc.

Another view of the Galleria and the steps leading upward.

A stone monolith that must have had some astronomical significance  stands directly in front of the Huanca Temple. 

It was near noon our time, and there was not much of a shadow. The Huanca Temple is in the background. In this temple, the archeologists found a reed bag, wooden spoon, a comb, unbaked clay statuettes, a charm made of giant mussel shell, etc.

Harold in front of the Minor Temple. Quite a bit was found here: a bowl made out of a gourd, shicra bags with pacay pods, a wooden knife, a quipu engraved in a stone block, a construction plumb line found in a shicra filling, a stone hammer, etc.

Julie in front of the spiral stone (see next pic).

The spiral carved in this stone (upper left) is somewhat of a mystery. The spiral is seen many places now:  caps, tee shirts, wall decorations, flower plantings (although the one you see is a monkey's tail).

Here is the sunken plaza on the Major Pyramid with several upright stones thought to represent the duality of nature: male and female, good and evil, black and white, etc.  This is thought to be the oldest pyramid. In this pyramid, one of the strangest fill items was the body of a young man who was missing some of his fingers and toes.  Also found was a human skull, digging sticks, arrow tips, graffiti on a clay tablet, etc.

This is a photo of a wall photo at the tour company's office. It is an aerial view of Pyramid Mejor with the Supe River in the background. We were not allowed into the top of the pyramids and into the interior of the complexes, but clearly, this is an impressive pyramid.

Here is a drawing of the above Pyramid Mejor (above is the aerial photo of that pyramid).

A view of Pyramide de la Cantera (Quarry Pyramid) that shows how the dust has covered the complex over the years. Some archeological work has started. Our view of the pyramid below.

Archeological work on the Quarry Pyramid is in progress.  The archeologists certainly know what to expect (i.e. a step pyramid), but one never knows what will be found.  Stay tuned.

We leave the site, and we are thanked for our visit to the sacred city of Caral.  We are glad that we went because there is clear evidence that the America's had another very early, thriving culture.