Norte Chico civilization

The Norte Chico civilization (also Caral - Supe culture) in Peru was the oldest (first beginnings already about 9000 BC) preceramic Stone Age culture of South America with the main phase from 3500 to about 1800 BC

People lived in at least 25 major cult and settlement centers north of Lima, the culture has nothing to do with the Norte Chico also (small north) called natural area in Chile.

Caral and Aspero

In 1905 the 2009 was proclaimed a World Heritage Site, discovered something away inland location, archaeological site of Caral in the Supe Valley, but met with lack of jewelery and pottery finds initially not a major concern. The significance of the oldest known city in the New World ( preceramic populated with about 1000 inhabitants between 2600 BC and 2000 BC, then leave for the time being ) but was not recognized until the mid- 1990s, when the Peruvian anthropologist and archaeologist Ruth Shady Solis they uncovered a large extent. Shady Solis explains the situation of the settlements in the rather barren area by the fact that the coast was hit by the El Niño phenomenon again and again by floods and the inhabitants therefore sought their residential areas 25 km from the sea in a higher location in the desert. There are several fairly shallow, about 18 feet high pyramids here. Another also located near the archaeological site called Supe Aspero. The 1800-1000 BC following the Norte Chico civilization culture resulted in a ceramic.

Sechín

In about 200 kilometers further north Casmatal is dug in Sechín in Ancash since 1992 in grand style. Here German researchers from Latin America Institute of the Free University of Berlin have exposed under Dr. Peter Fuchs from 2005 remains of a large pyramid, whose original estimated height was 70 to 100 meters. Sechin was built from about 3500 BC ( Sechin Bajo ) and the oldest pyramid was the oldest building in South America, on the one hand even older than Caral, on the other hand only a place of worship and not a city. A more recent ( about 1600 BC ) construction stage is called Sechin Alto.

Sometimes a distinction between Sechinkultur and Caralkultur is made.