Lauricocha culture

The Lauricocha culture is a section of the pre-ceramic cultures in the early history of present-day Peru, v. of about 8000-2500 BC

The entire prehistoric era in Peru includes about 15,000 years old and goes back to the 14th millennium BC, when the first hunter-gatherer peoples left their traces in the highlands of Ayacucho and Ancash. These groups were migrated over thousands of years over North and Central America and had settled in the Andean highlands. Traces of these early peoples have been found in the caves of Lauricocha, Pacaicasa and Guitarrero.

The Lauricocha Cave was in 1957 at an altitude of more than 4000 m above sea level. NN discovered near Lake Lauricocha and the source of the Marañón, one of the three largest Amazon tributaries. In the cave there were the oldest so far discovered in Peru human remains that are attributable to the time of the last major glaciation about 9500 years ago.

The early communities of hunters and gatherers in Peru at that time followed the train of wild animals as well as the change of seasons and migrated between the rugged plateaus and the warmer coastal regions back and forth. The region Lauricocha near Huánuco was at that time one of the most important mountain settlements, which is reflected in the arrowheads and cutting blades found there, carefully crafted, stone as well as in the cave paintings of wild animals, hunting scenes and dances.

Lauricocha epochs

• Lauricocha III: 4200-2500 BC
• Lauricocha II: 6000-4200 BC
• Lauricocha I: 8000-6000 BC