Caral: la ciudad más antigua del Perú

Another early morning for us as I rose at 6:30 to meet the group at 7:30.  We took a 4 hr drive north to Caral, a newly discovered settlement that has been carbon dated to be the 2^nd oldest civilization behind only Mesopatamia, and took a tour of the pyramids.

As we drove north the scenery around us was beautiful as the greyish-brown mountains rose in the background behind lush green fields and spindly trees.  We also drove along the coast on a skinny winding rode as the dunes fell off the left directly to the crashing surf.  No pictures would do it justice as the day was cloudy and overcast, but you’ll just have to take my word that it was breathtaking.

Though the day started off particularly worrisome as our guide insisted on speaking in a small yellow and purple megaphone while on the bus, and told us that the only eating option was a meal for $8 (S./ ~22, a small fortune here), when we actually arrived at the location, and after I talked her into a Salad+Rice combo for S./10, the day improved markedly.

We crossed the footbridge to people selling horse and carriage rides to take visitors partway to the entrance of Caral.  Though I decided to walk we arrived about the same time, albeit sidestepping horse droppings in the road, it wasn't a long walk and the wind helped cool the hot day.  At the entrance I opted for the English tour as I have a bad habit of zoning out when listening to large blocks of uninterrupted Spanish, and especially when the topics are very technical I am much more adept at understanding and retaining information in English.

Our guide Michael told us how the large pyrimids had been discovered in 1994 and since then have been slowly excavated without the use of heavy machinery.  In fact the site is still an active research site today and we saw many archelogists working as we walked.  After first clearing the large sand mounds that cover the pyramids now, most likely a result of a large land slide believed to have broken the plateau approximately 3000 years ago, the archeologists are slowly working to restore the walls using a morter made of straw, clay and sand.

These mounds show what archeologists found when they discovered Caral in 1994. 

Uncovered pyramids

Throughout the excavation there have been few item discoveries as the Caral people seem not to have developed ceramics or a written language.  Currently the archeologists are excavating the stepped pyramids that were used for ceremonial/religious purpourses before being converted to administrative buildings over the course of the 2000 year habitation of Caral.  The only discoveries within the pyramids have been the bodies of 5 individuals, all male, one approximately 23 years old and the rest infants.  The infants are believed to be sacrificies, probably from the higher social classes while the man’s skeleton shows signs of torture and we were told he was probably a prisoner of some sort.

Foodstuffs found in fire pits have included maiz, papas, pimientos, frijoles, camote, palta, lucuma and even pescado, which remains a mystery because of Caral’s distance from the sea.  Other mysteries include giant whale bones from Blue Whales that are believed to perhaps be used for chairs in the temples.  The bones of pelicans were also found in the amphitheater where they had been formed into flutes believed to be part of religious ceremonies performed.

Restored steps leading towards the top of the pyramid.

While there remains much to be unearthed, learned and hypothesized, this little known site of Caral is an amazing discovery to see.  Unfortunately the site doesn’t have enough money to build a museum on site with appropriate security, and the few artifacts and skeletons found are on display in museums across Peru.

We had a late lunch at around 2:30pm, a delicious and fresh salad for me with a side of lemon rice and a pear for dessert.  After that we returned home to shower (YES!) and a delicious dinner as usual.

Lessons Learned:

1. Some of the best bathrooms in Peru are evidently in the middle of no where.  (And yes, I did take 2 pics of the bathroom)
2. Research prior to visiting somewhere definitely helps, I was able to appreciate Caral much more since I had Wikipedia-d it the night before at 1:30am.
3. Test your options!  I wouldn't have been able to get my interesting salad+rice combo if I hadn't of asked the lady!