<< Our Photo Pages >> Caral - Ancient Village or Settlement in Peru
Submitted by bat400 on Tuesday, 06 November 2018 Page Views: 30567
Multi-periodSite Name: Caral Alternative Name: Caral Archaeological Project, Caral Supe, Chico Norte-CaralCountry: Peru Type: Ancient Village or Settlement
Nearest Town: Barranco Nearest Village: Caral
Latitude: 10.892S Longitude: 77.5209W
Condition:
5 | Perfect |
4 | Almost Perfect |
3 | Reasonable but with some damage |
2 | Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site |
1 | Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks |
0 | No data. |
-1 | Completely destroyed |
5 | Superb |
4 | Good |
3 | Ordinary |
2 | Not Good |
1 | Awful |
0 | No data. |
5 | Can be driven to, probably with disabled access |
4 | Short walk on a footpath |
3 | Requiring a bit more of a walk |
2 | A long walk |
1 | In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find |
0 | No data. |
5 | co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates |
4 | co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map |
3 | co-ordinates scaled from a bad map |
2 | co-ordinates of the nearest village |
1 | co-ordinates of the nearest town |
0 | no data |
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I have visited· I would like to visit
bat400 visited on 31st Aug 2018 - their rating: Cond: 2 Amb: 5 Access: 3 A wonderful and astonishing place. Caral is surrounded by hills on all sides; the entry to the site is generally along the Supe River coming from the coast and the Pan-American highway. For late August we were very lucky as the dense coastal overcast broke the afternoon we were there and held off until the sun began to set. Once away from the river valley itself the Peruvean coast is arid and the pyramids of Caral exist in this stark landscape.
Walkways and signage (with substantial English translations from the Spanish) are what a western tourist would expect, although trained local guides are provided, and I believe, required. The tourist route is a circuit of the ceremonial plaza surrounded by the stepped pyramids. At each pyramid there is a sign displaying major artifact finds at that building. You cannot climb up into the structures.
I am uncertain whether one can walk into the western portion of the site, where most residential complexes were built (but these would be generally much less interesting, I would think.)
There is an open air museum near the parking area / site entrance with artifacts and replicas in cases and many displays explaining Caral and what is known about its culture.
We visited Caral as part of a 9 day tour of archaeological sites in Northern Peru through WH Tours. Ask me about them - they are great.
mfrincu visited on 3rd Apr 2015 - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 5 Access: 4 The oldes ruins in the Americas. It is said this is the 2nd oldest civilization on Earth after Sumer. Many of pyramids some in good shape. The place is near a river similar with Giza in Egypt near the Nile.
Average ratings for this site from all visit loggers: Condition: 2.5 Ambience: 5 Access: 3.5
Caral's chief excavator, Dr. Ruth Shady Solis, has called Caral "the Mother City" of the Americas. This city of a Late Archaic culture was built and occupied from around 2600 BC to 1900 BC (by carbon dating.) It is considered one of the oldest urban centers in the Americas, substantially predating Mayan, Mississippian, and Aztec cultures.
The city covers 150 acres and includes stepped pyramids of quarried and shaped stone, plazas, numerous large buildings, and smaller residences. The location is general for the city center, not a location for a specific structure. Many of the ceremonial structures show multiple phases of building and some may have begun their construction as early as 3000 BC. The stone faced step pyramids you see are thought to be representational of the occupation in the 2500 to 1900 BC periods.
Common features of the Caral Supe Civilization include stepped pyramids grouped around an open plaza, and sunken circular walled plazas. A construction method common to multiple sites in this culture is the use of woven bags or baskets containing many rough relatively small stones. These "shicras" were used as fill between walls or making up the bulk of plarforms. This method was in large buildings of adobe, unshaped stone and faced stone. It is believed this made the stepped pyramids resilient to the earthquakes common on the west coast of South America.
The culture transitioned from pre-ceramic, although unfired clay figurines are found from the earliest periods. Cotton cord as well as other textiles, baskets, and structural artifacts from domesticated cotton and items made from wild plant fibers have been found as well as stone and bone tools, and plant and animal food remains.
Peruvian cultural artifacts associated with much later periods have also been found at Caral, possibly including the quipu, a method of record keeping using knotted strings. A possible quipu found at Caral dates back to the earlier days of the city, nearly 5000 years.
The site has ample signage with substantial translations to English from the Spanish, museum displays, and parking and modern tourist facilities. However, there is little or no public transport, and access from the highway is 10 km on minor roads with some damage (in 2018) from the 2017 El Nino flooding. Day trips tours from Lima are common, but Caral and other sites of the Caral Supe culture may also be visited out of Barranca with hired private drivers.
Website: Caral Official Website.
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