The Sacred City of Caral-Supe, or simply Caral, is an archaeological site in Peru where the remains of the main city of the Caral civilization are found. It is located in the Supe District of Peru, near the current town of Caral, 182 kilometres (113 mi) north of Lima, 23 kilometres (14 mi) from the coast and 350 meters above sea level. It is attributed an antiquity of 5,000 years and it is considered the oldest city in the Americas and one of the oldest in the world.
A city of the early Andes
Caral was inhabited from around 2600 BC to 2000 BC, and the site includes an area of more than 60 hectares (150 acres). Caral has been described by its excavators as the oldest urban center in the Americas. This claim has been challenged by the discovery of other ancient sites nearby, such as Bandurria, Peru. Accommodating more than 3,000 inhabitants, Caral is the best studied and one of the largest sites known of the Norte Chico civilization. The city was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2009. Caral belongs to the Late Preceramic period, before pottery became an established part of life in this region. Radiocarbon dates published by Ruth Shady and her colleagues in 2001 established that the site's monumental architecture was already present in this early period. Dates from short-lived plants used in construction helped settle the question of its age: a city with large ceremonial buildings did not have to belong to a later, pottery-producing society.
Discoveries without pottery
Max Uhle discovered Caral in 1905 while conducting a survey of ancient Peruvian cities and cemeteries. He did not, however, recognize the hills at the site as being pyramids and attributed to them little importance. Decades later, in 1948, Paul Kosok conducted a more extensive study of Caral; the site received little attention at the time because its size and complexity were such that others in the field doubted its age, believing it to be a more recently constructed site than Kosok claimed.
In 1975, the Peruvian architect Carlos Williams made a detailed record of most of the archaeological sites of the valley of Supe, among which he recorded Caral. Peruvian archaeologist Ruth Shady's findings suggest it was a society built on commerce and pleasure. No indications of warfare, such as battlements, weapons, or mutilated bodies, have been found at Caral. This contrasts with the older site of Sechin Bajo, where depictions of weapons are found. In one of the Caral temples, researchers found 32 flutes made of condor and pelican bones.
One find revealed the remains of a baby, wrapped and buried with a necklace made of stone beads. Some excavations have uncovered human remains associated with ceremonial or construction contexts, indicating that certain rites involved the deliberate killing of individuals. One such skeleton represents the earliest known evidence of human sacrifice in the Andean region, dating to around 3000 BC.
Monuments and music
The main temple complex (Spanish: Templo Mayor) is 150 meters (490 ft) long, 110 meters (360 ft) wide and 28 meters (92 ft) high. The date of its construction is unknown. Another significant find at the site was a collection of musical instruments, including 37 cornetts made of deer and llama bones and 33 flutes of unusual construction. The flutes were radiocarbon dated to 2170±90 BC. The city of Caral was split into two sections, an "Upper Half" and a "Lower Half".
Caral’s two principal zones were divided naturally by the Supe River Valley. In the Upper Half there are six monumental complexes, each of which includes a pyramid, open plaza, and assemblage of residential buildings. In the Lower Half there are residential buildings, small pyramids, and one monumental complex called the "Temple of the Amphitheater". The Upper Half complexes were all constructed around a pyramid.