The Sacred City Of Caral

IN 1994, AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL DISCOVERY IN THE VALLEY OF THE SUPE RIVER RADICALLY CHANGED THE CONCEPTIONS THAT EXISTED ABOUT PRE-HISPANIC PERUVIAN MAN. CARAL, CONSIDERED THE OLDEST CITY OF AMERICA, IS THE THIRD OLDEST CIVILIZATION OF THE WORLD, AFTER MESOPOTAMIA AND EGYPT.

Data:
- Caral was developed between the year 2900 B.C. and 1500 B.C.

  (Late Archaic period)
- It is located in the valley of Supe, 158 kilometers north of the city

  of Lima.
- It was declared a National Cultural Heritage by the INC in 2002.

DISCOVERY
The valley of the Supe river has been investigated since the beginnings of the 20th century. Scholars, such as the German Max Uhle and the American Paul Kosok, excavated and found archaeological remains in the area. But it wasn't until just recently in 1994, when archaeologist Ruth Shady revealed the true dimension of Caral, after verifying its antiquity and influence in the political and social order of the central Andes during ancient times. Before this discovery, Chavin was considered the first great culture that initiated the process of civilization in the Peruvian territory. Caral, a pre-ceramic culture, broke with that paradigm. Even the Nazca lines have a clear antecedent in the geoglifos found in Caral, which are 3,200 years older.

DATA CONFIRMATION
The antiquity of Caral has been verified by means of 42 tests of carbon-14. In the absence of ceramic remains, the scientific tests were made with samples of burned logs and fragments of "shicras", a construction material made with "totora" (water straw fiber). The results of these tests and studies were published in 2001 in the prestigious Science magazine. With those tests, it was determined that the development of Caral occurred between the years 2900 B.C. and 2700 B.C., which makes Caral five thousand years old. Only two great civilizations, Mesopotamia (3500 B.C.) and Egypt (3300 B.C.) are older than Caral. The archaeological complex is enormous; it covers 66 hectares, equivalent to 400 football stadiums, and contains ceremonial pyramids, temples, residential areas and an area of geoglifos. The biggest pyramid is formed by an underground circular square and a stepped pyramidal structure. Photos: Special Archaeological project of Caral-Supe.

RUTH SHADY [CALLAO, 1946]
Twelve year commitment with the National Heritage
Ruth Shady began to work in the valley of Supe in 1994 without knowing, in fact, what she was going to find. Since then, she travels there every weekend to continue her investigations on the oldest civilization of Peru. Currently, she is carrying out new studies with the support of the National Institute of Culture (INC.) in Caral and 17 other archaeological complexes in the nearby valley, which includes Lurihuasi, Chupacigarro and Miraya.
Her conclusions confirm that the vertical control of the ecology is an ancestral practice in pre-Hispanic Peru. "These first civilizations did not divide the territory in the coast, mountain chains and forest, but in a cross-sectional form to be able to articulate the regions to use, in a more dynamic way, the resources coming from those regions. Archaeology has a lot to teach us", she explains. Dedicated scholar of our past (42 years of her life have been dedicated to Archaeology), Shady looks not only to preserve the millenarian archaeological heritage of Caral, but also to promote the development of the local population around the site. To date, some local settlers have been trained to become site tourist guides and there is also a project to organize centers for craft production and agrarian development. It is her desire that the value of her findings surpass what are merely the historical aspects: "We want the archaeological complex of Caral to offer a possibility of better living conditions for the settlers of the valley, but also to allow the current society to have a link with our past".

FINDINGS
In the excavations made in Caral were found remains of food products such as bean, hot pepper, sweet potato and guayaba, as well as cotton, fishing nets made with this fiber, and remains of anchovies. These materials are evidence that the site population was mainly dedicated to agriculture and fishing. Also there are vestiges that demonstrate that there was commercial activity beyond the coast. Remains of vegetables and animals from the mountain chain, like cactus and condors, were found in Caral and even from the Amazonian jungle, like achiote, tutumo and huarumo.
(1) Some of the articles found in Caral: feather necklace (2) an offering (3) a basket. (4) a sandal. Photos: Special Archaeological project: Caral-Supe.

ACCESS
From Lima, there are two ways to travel to Caral. An option is to travel by the Northern Pan-American Highway up to kilometer 184, a little before the town of Supe. In that area, there are two signs that announce the entrance to the side road to Ambar, after following 23 kilometers of this road, you reach the archaeological complex. This road is very attractive because you can witness the entire landscape of the Supe valley. Another possibility is to take the side road located at the end of kilometer 159 of the North Pan-American Highway, where the town of Mazo is located, in the district of Vegueta. You have to follow this road for 28 kilometers to reach the complex. This road is recommended during summer season (January to March) when the river flow reaches its higher level.

CONTEMPORARY SITES
Kotosh, ceremonial center located in Huanuco, was contemporary to Caral. Its most representative architectonic sample is the Temple of the Crossed Hands, built around the year 2300 B.C. which is considered the oldest temple of the Andes. It has a height of two meters and in its interior there are two mud sculptures that represent crossed hands, the meaning of this symbol continues to be a mystery. Other establishments of the same time are Huaricoto, in the Callejon of Huaylas (Ancash); Piruro, in Tantamayo (Huanuco) and Paraiso in the lower zone of the river valley of Chillon (Lima).

Web pages:
- Oficial site: http://www.caralperu.gob.pe
- Magazine Science: http://www.sciencemag.org

Chavin De Huantar

THIS CEREMONIAL CENTER, WHICH IS MORE THAN THREE THOUSAND YEARS OLD, IS THE MOST IMPORTANT LEFT BY THE CHAVIN CULTURE. IN ITS TIME, IT WAS A PLACE OF PILGRAMAGE FOR INHABITANTS OF THE NORTH COAST AND THE CENTRAL ANDES. UNFORTUNATELY, IT HAS UNDERGONE THE DEPREDATION OF PILLAGERS DURING MANY YEARS. CONSTANT RAINS AND HUMIDITY ARE OTHER PERMANENT THREATS.

Data:
- Location: Callejon deConchucos, at 110 Kilometres from the city

  of Huaraz (Ancash).
- Dates from year 1200 B.C. approx. The Chavin culture developed

  between the years 1400 B.C. and 400 A.D.
- The archeological complex was declared Cultural Heritage of

  Mankind by UNESCO in 1985.

THE COMPLEX
Chavin de Huantar was the great oracle where all the pilgrims, coming from all the zones of the Andes, used to go. Its area covers more than four and a half hectares. The architectural constructions that are highlighted are two pyramids built at different times; they have underground passages, terraces, wide stairs and squares. The older pyramid is called the Old Temple (850 B. C.) and is formed by three temples that together form the letter U. To the flank of this pyramid, was constructed the other pyramid called the New Temple (350 A.D.). The central pyramid of the New Temple stands out for having stone walls, ten meters high.

ICONOGRAPHY
The divinities of the Chavin culture are expressed in their rich iconography. Abstract beings that combine human characteristics with others of felines, serpents and birds of prey were left in their ceramics engravings, sculptures, textiles and other materials. The Chavin's iconography also had an influence on other contemporary cultures such as the Cupisnique, Ancon, Cantor Wasi and Paracas. These cultures also represented mythical beings of the Chavin's culture, which had eyeteeth, claws and serpent heads. Ceramics of Cupisnique origin present characteristics of Chavin's iconography.

CONTEMPORARY CULTURES
The Cupisnique was a culture seated in the current department of La Libertad and had a simultaneous development with the Chavin culture. Its main religious center was Huaca of the Kings, a complex of three pyramids: a main one and other two, smaller and symmetrical, to the sides.
Guanupe and Chankillo in the North coast, Paracas in the South coast and Wankarani in the south Andean plateau were also contemporary cultures belonging to Chavin. They belong to the Early Horizon period, a long period of our history (1200 B.C. - 200 B.C.) which for the first time, started work with metals, mainly with gold and cooper. With the help of fire, the craftsmen of that time turned these metals, even with an incipient style, into crowns, earflaps, nose covers, necklaces, pectorals, belts and bracelets.

NAILING HEADS
They are stone sculptures that represent human wide-eyed heads, with serpent figures and eyeteeth. They were nailed in the high part of the outer wall of the New Temple. Some investigators consider that the function of these stone pieces was to serve as guardians of the ceremonial center. Currently, there is only one left in its original position. The others, around fifty, are stored in small deposits within the complex.

TELLO'S OBELISK
Studied by the archaeologist Julio C. Tello, from whom takes its name, it is one of the most complex sculptures in pre-Hispanic Peru. It is a piece two and a half meters high, which shows two mythical lizards with a fish tail. Their bodies have bellies that simulate an immense mouth with intercrossed eyeteeth. At the present time, the Tello's obelisk is in the National Museum of Archaeology, Anthropology and Peruvian History, in Lima.

JULIO CESAR TELLO
[HUAROCHIRI, 1880 - LIMA, 1947]
Julio C. Tello, born on April 11th, 1880, began his investigative works in Chavin de Huantar in 1919. He was not the first in visiting the complex. Other investigators, like the Italian geographer Antonio Raimondi, had already visited the place. However, Tello was the first in formulating a historical theory that presented the Chavin culture as the angular stone of the Peruvian civilization origin. At the beginning of century XX, the German archaeologist Max Uhle sustained that the first pre Incan civilizations were developed under the influence of Central American cultures. Tello rejected that hypothesis and sustained that the Chavin culture was the matrix culture that laid the political and social foundations in the Andes. Currently, it is known that there were previous establishments to Chavin de Huantar and that this was the place where all the achievements reached by preceding cultures of the coast, Andean mountain chains and forest converged. However, the greatest contribution of Julio C. Tello - was demonstrating the native origin of our civilization – remains intact.

THE GREAT SPEAR MONOLITH
One of the best known pieces of the Chavin de Huantar's site is this stone sculpture which shows an anthropomorphous being with feline eyeteeth, hands and feet with claws and hair turned on serpents. The Lanzon (Great Spear) is four and a half meters high; it is nailed down inside the deepest underground gallery of the fourteen existing in the Old Temple. Due to that location, some archaeologists such as Krzysztof Makowsky consider that it was the most important religious icon of the Chavin culture.

ACCESS
From Lima to Chavin de Huantar there is a distance of 500 kilometers approximately. In order to arrive there, it is necessary to take the Northern Pan-American highway up to kilometer 196 (close to the town of Pativilca), where you take a side road with many curves to begin the ascent until the town of Catac. Arriving there is a detour that leads to Chavin. The best time to visit the complex is during the months of April and May. The towns of Conchucos have developed a better hotel infrastructure which includes Chavin, Huari and Chacas. Another option is to visit Chavin de Huantar during the day and later on continue to the city of Huaraz to sleep; this trip from Chavin to Huaraz takes two hours.

THE STELA RAIMONDI
It was found by the Italian Antonio Raimondi in the middle of 19th century, in the house of Timoteo Espinoza, a farmer of the zone of the Callejon of Conchucos. The sculpture represents the God of the Crosiers, an anthropomorphous being with feline jaws and claws in his hands and feet, holding a stick or sacred crosier in each hand. On his head, is raised a hairdo with animal figures.

Web pages:
- UNESCO: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/330
- INC: http://www.perupatrimonio.com.pe/pg_chavin.htm
- Otras: http://chavin.perucultural.org.pe/

FUTURE
There is a project elaborated by the INC and an offer from the Japanese government to finance the construction of this site museum in Chavin. It is estimated that it will open its doors in the year 2008 and will exhibit more than 500 of Chavin's pieces. The importance of this project is that it will not only gather all the Chavin vestiges that are scattered in different museums along the country, but additionally, there will be an area of preservation and conservation of all the Chavin vestiges.

Copyright © 2009 Domiruth Travel Service SAC. All rights reserved.

mharbaum@mac.com