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The Kansas City Star reports that Peruvian authorities made a stunning new discovery at the site of Era de Pando in the Supe Valley. The region was home to the Caral culture, which is often considered the oldest city-building civilization in the Americas. Previous excavations at Era de Pando have unearthed four large and four small pyramid complexes, and at least 40 other buildings, including houses and temples, that date back at least 4,000 years. While working near one of the largest pyramids, archaeologists recently uncovered the ruins of a structure known as a "fire altar." The circular feature, which...

The amphitheater served as the ceremonial heart of a thriving city 4,600 years ago. First City in the New World? Peru's Caral suggests civilization emerged in the Americas 1,000 years earlier than experts believed Why Did They Leave the Coast? Fishermen today ply Peru’s coast in bull-rush boats as they have for thousands of years, harvesting the rich marine life sustained by the cold Humboldt Current. Leaving this food-rich environment and establishing the urban center of Caral deep in the desert became possible only through large-scale irrigation, enabling farmers to grow squash plants, sweet potatoes and beans. For protein, the...

Archaeologists have unearthed evidence that the oldest civilisation in the Americas dates back 400 years earlier than previously thought, according to research published today. New radiocarbon dating of 95 samples taken from pyramid mounds and houses suggest that by 3100 BC there were complex societies and communal building of religious monuments across three valleys in Peru. This emerging civilisation was the first in the Americas to develop centralised decision-making, formalised religion, social hierarchies and a mixed economy based on agriculture and fishing. The newly uncovered sites in the Fortaleza and Pativilca valleys, along with the nearby previously reported sites in...