Lost and found: Peru unveils sacred city of Caral hidden for nearly 4,000 years
It is called Peñico, and experts consider it to be a "city of social integration" because of its strategic location, which connected the populations of the Supe and Huaura valleys, but also because of the large number of homes, public buildings and ceremonial spaces it housed.
On Saturday 12 July, the Caral Archaeological Zone will organise the first Peñico Raymi, a replica of a traditional Andean festival, to inaugurate the new archaeological site.
Although the Caral culture developed mainly between 3000 and 1800 BC (which, given its antiquity, places it in a society with a development and chronology comparable to Ancient Egypt), it's understood the city of Peñico began to develop a little later, around 1800 and 1500 BC.
The Caral are considered the oldest of the pre-Hispanic civilisations in the Americans, which went into steep decline around 1800 BC.
It is possible that the prestige achieved by Peñico society in the valley, coupled with its role as a hub in the exchange network, was linked to the extraction and circulation of hematite. This mineral, used to make a red pigment, had great symbolic importance within Andean cosmology.
Among the 18 constructions discovered during the excavations and now on display to the public, a ceremonial hall stands out: "We don't know its exact limits," explained Mauro Ordóñez, head of the Penico archaeological site. "This building continues to extend from east to west. The most interesting thing is the composition of several antechambers: one of them stands out for having on its sides the representation, in friezes, of pututus".
Pututus are objects also known as churus (the Quechua word for a mollusc, shell or snail). They are wind instruments originally made from a seashell that was large enough to emit a powerful sound. Ordóñez considers this to be evidence of close relations with other pre-Columbian groups in northern Peru.
The sacred city of Caral-Supe, located less than 200 kilometres north of Lima, the Peruvian capital, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Peñico, in particular, was built 600 metres above sea level on a geological terrace parallel to the Supe River and surrounded by hills that reach a height of 1,000 metres.
Its Caralan builders chose this strategic location for multiple purposes: to enhance the monumentality of their buildings, to protect themselves from floods or landslides and, as evidenced by findings such as the representation of musical instruments, and to promote interaction and exchange with other civilisations.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Fox News
4 hours ago
- Fox News
Archaeologists uncover 3,500-year-old rice remains in oldest part of remote region
The remains of 3,500-year-old rice were recently found in Guam — making it the earliest known evidence of rice in Remote Oceania. Archaeologists discovered the rice at the Ritidian Site Complex, located at the northernmost point of Guam. Michael T. Carson, an archaeology professor at the University of Guam in Mangilao, recently published his findings on the discovery in the journal Science Advances. The archaeologist told Fox News Digital in an interview that the rice remnants were found in the form of phytoliths. "Phytoliths are like fossils of ancient plant parts," Carson said. "The original plant materials were filled primarily with silica materials, lasting for thousands of years and preserving the detailed anatomy that can be observed and authenticated through microscope analysis." The phytoliths included multiple instances of the rice husks and leaves, Carson said. The rice was exclusively found on ancient pottery made from earthenware. "This direct association is extra confident because the phytoliths were 100% absent on other artifacts such as stone and shell tools, as well as 100% absent within the surrounding sedimentary matrix," he said. Experts believe that rice played a role in rituals that were performed in the cave, which also included fine pottery, shell pendants and ornaments. "Additionally, the cave included rare rock art and formal burial pits," Carson added. "The discarded shell remains here included different kinds of shellfish than otherwise comprised the majority of the daily shellfish diet." "People probably cooked the rice elsewhere, away from the cave, as grain processing and cooking undoubtedly would have left behind other traces." No other cave has the same evidence of rice — adding to the idea that the cave served a "highly specialized" cultural role, according to Carson. The rice must have been transported by the first settlers of Guam over 3,500 years ago, he noted. "These people traveled across 2,300 km of open ocean, setting a world record [for] long-distance ocean migration at the time," he said. "Among their accomplishments, they managed to transport and maintain the rice until they planted and produced successful crops in their new remote-distance island home." So how did ancient people cook this rice? Researcher Hsiao-chun Hung told Australian National University (ANU) they probably prepared the rice far away from the cave. The latest discovery isn't the first time ancient food has offered a window into the past. "People probably cooked the rice elsewhere, away from the cave, as grain processing and cooking undoubtedly would have left behind other traces," the archaeologist said. A damp environment like the cave would have been "unsuitable for storing unprocessed rice in pots," she added. "The ancient rice remains were found only on the surfaces of the pottery, ruling out ordinary food storage," Hung added. The latest discovery isn't the first time ancient food has offered a window into the past, though such finds remain rare. Earlier this year, archaeologists uncovered a well-preserved loaf of ancient bread, dating back 5,000 years. In the American Southwest, University of Utah researchers recently uncovered proof of historical food practices by analyzing bedrock "kitchens."
Fox News
14 hours ago
- Fox News
Archaeologists uncover multistory buildings in once-thriving city lost to time
Archaeologists recently uncovered multistory buildings from a lost Egyptian city in the Nile Delta, fostering new insights into urban life in antiquity. The ruins of the city – known in ancient times as Imet or Buto – are located at the site now called Tell el-Fara'in. The University of Manchester announced the discovery in a June 24 press release. Multiple excavations have taken place at the site in past decades, but the latest dig by British archaeologists revealed the presence of multiple multistory structures. The elevated dwellings were found thanks to a combination of remote sensing and satellite imagery technology, said the University of Manchester. The British archaeologists were joined by experts from the University of Sadat City in Cairo. The high-tech methods led researchers to notice clusters of "ancient mudbricks" before the excavation began. The university reported, "This approach led to the discovery of dense architectural remains, including substantial tower houses – multistory buildings supported by exceptionally thick foundation walls, which were designed to accommodate a growing population in an increasingly urbanized Delta region." University of Manchester lecturer Nicky Nielsen helped lead the excavation. In a statement, he dated the structures to the Ptolemaic Period, which began around 332 B.C. and ended in 30 B.C. "These tower houses are mainly found in the Nile Delta between the Late Period and the Roman era, and are rare elsewhere in Egypt," the Egyptologist said. "Their presence here shows that Imet was a thriving and densely built city with a complex urban infrastructure." Archaeologists also uncovered the remains of granaries, or buildings for storing grain, as well as a ceremonial road tied to the cult of Wadjet, the Ancient Egyptian cobra goddess. Animal enclosures were also observed during the excavation, as well as a series of additional buildings. "Imet is emerging as a key site for rethinking the archaeology of Late Period Egypt." "Elsewhere, excavators found a large building with a limestone plaster floor and massive pillars dating to the mid-Ptolemaic Period," the University of Manchester noted. "This building was built across the processional road, which once connected to the temple of Wadjet – the city's patron deity," the statement continued. "This ceremonial route appears to have fallen out of use by the mid-Ptolemaic period, offering insight into shifting religious landscapes in Ancient Egypt." Smaller artifacts were also uncovered by archaeologists. Pictures from the excavation show an ushabti (a small funerary figurine), a stone slab depicting the god Harpocrates and a bronze sistrum, or rattle, of Hathor, the goddess of music and joy. The excavation will help advance understanding of "the urban, religious and economic life of this city in the Nile Delta during the 4th century BC," according to university officials. "This discovery opens new doors to our understanding of daily life, spirituality and urban planning in the Delta," the statement concluded. "Imet is emerging as a key site for rethinking the archaeology of Late Period Egypt." Ancient Egypt has captivated archaeologists for centuries, and many finds from the millennia-old civilization are still being discovered today. In May, several tombs of high-ranking Ancient Egyptian officials were recently uncovered by local archaeologists, dating back to the era of the New Kingdom. A month earlier, a University of Pennsylvania professor spoke with Fox News Digital about unearthing the tomb of an unknown pharaoh near Abydos.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
1880 shipwreck is discovered by accident in Wisconsin river
A survey of a Wisconsin river led to the accidental discovery of a shipwreck that sank in the area over a century ago. The Wisconsin Historical Society's Maritime Preservation Program and the Wisconsin Underwater Archaeology Association were conducting a high-resolution sonar survey earlier this year of the Fox River to map "potential cultural sites" in a 2.5-mile stretch of the waterway, the historical society said on social media. Those sites included the wreck of a steamer that sank in 1870 and the identified wreck of a ship that had been surveyed in 2016. Using a sonar system that creates a 3D rendering of the river bottom, the researchers were able to map the entire section of the river in high resolution, the archaeology association said. The stretch that the team mapped has "a significant amount" of debris, the researchers said, including large trees, rocks and remnants of lumber rafts and collapsed bridges. But amid the debris, they were surprised to see the remains of what appeared to be a different ship. "That's the excitement of archaeology, sometimes we find something new that we were not looking for!" the Wisconsin Historical Society said. The scan revealed a partially buried ship's hull about 90 feet long and 23 feet wide. The wreck is likely that of the L.W. Crane, the Wisconsin Historical Society said. The ship is of a different size than the 1870 wreck the team was initially looking for. The L.W. Crane was a wooden paddle wheel steamer ship built in Berlin, Wisconsin, in 1865, the historical society said. It was used to transport passengers and freight between Green Bay and Oconto. In 1880, the ship caught fire, burned to the waterline and sank in Oshkosh. The site where it sank is directly across the river from where the wreck was found. The historical society did not say how the ship caught fire, or if anyone was aboard the vessel at the time. Further investigations at the waterway are ongoing, the Wisconsin Underwater Archaeology Association said, but are hindered by the debris at the bottom of the river. The researchers are working to find more information about the steamer that sank in 1870, as well as the L.W. Crane and other wrecks in the area. How a father's persistence unlocked his son's brilliance Global backlash grows to Trump's tariff threats Takeaways from Trump's tour of Texas flooding damage
