[Restorer]

You're quite right. The areas look very similar. I was trying to point out that I believe the climate is dramatically different. I assume the Peruvian valley is irrigated or it would be as dead as the surface of the moon. The Mancos Valley, which I am very familiar with (used to live nearby), has a fairly heavy natural rainfall.

[okie01]

"The Mancos Valley, which I am very familiar with (used to live nearby), has a fairly heavy natural rainfall."

One doesn't have to go very far south and west from Mesa Verde and the Mancos to find "arid".

The Mesa Verde and Caral locations may not have identical climates, but the similar topography would create a similar climate profile. As weather comes out of the west, the land rises steadily in the east to a mountain shield. So that the upper Mancos, like the Andean streams, is fed by heavy precipitation and snowmelt from higher elevations. But the lower you go (and the further west), the less the precipitation. And the greater liklihood of irrigation-aided agriculture...

Caral, while subject to the same climatic influences, appears to be a little further "down the hill" than Mesa Verde.

In sum, we're both seeing the same thing, but saying it a little differently.

[okie01]

And I completely forgot to make the point that the observed topographic/climatic similarities suggested to me:

Is it possible that there is a linkage between Caral and the chain of cultures that progressed north into the American Southwest?

It would seem likely that vanguards from a given culture would seek out similar geographic and climatic conditions in order to take maximum advantage of existing technology and agricultural practice.

That is, could Chaco somehow be a lineal descendant of Caral...???