A visit to Caral with Perú InsideOut will bring you back in time almost 5000 years, to the time of the pyramids. Caral, 200 kilometers north of modern Lima, was the seat the most ancient civilization in all of the Americas and was only discovered 19 years ago, surprising the world with its complexity and architecture.
Caral thrived in South America whilst the Chinese, Egyptian, Indian and Mesopotamian cultures were flourishing around 5000 years ago and has been named a “Cultural Heritage of Humanity” by UNESCO.
Our tour to Caral will give you an insight into the first American settlement of over 3,000 people with religion at its center. You will be able to appreciate the hierarchical organization of this civilization when admiring their pyramids, temples and ordinary houses. Strolling through the archaeological sites and buried buildings you will be able to appreciate the sophistication of these people who built their city in the knowledge that the area was prone to earthquakes. You will see evidence of cotton growing and looking across the plain towards the sea you will wonder how the people of Caral managed to trade their goods with fishermen some 25 kilometers away.
The site is well marked with easy-to-follow paths, signage and a small canteen. Your Perú InsideOut guide will help you discover Caral’s secrets.
This is a “new” archeological site, only recently opened to the public and your tour will give you a chance to see something relatively few visitors to Peru have seen in the past: the first in the Americas!
Ellen