Caral
The 'Sacred City of Caral-Supe' or simply 'Caral,' is an archaeological site where the remains of the main city of the Caral civilization are found. It is located in Peru in the Supe valley, near the current town of Caral, 182 kilometers north of Lima, 23 km from the coast and 350 metres above sea level. It is attributed an antiquity of 5000 years and it is considered the oldest city in the Americas and one of the oldest in the world. No other site has been found with such a diversity of monumental buildings or different ceremonial and administrative functions in the Americas as early as Caral. It has been declared a Humanity Cultural Heritage site by UNESCO.
The Caral culture developed between 3000 and 1800 B.C (Late Archaic and Lower Formative periods). In America, it is the oldest of the pre-Hispanic civilizations, developing 1,500 years earlier than the Olmec civilization, another important Mesoamerican complex society.
Closely related to the city of Caral was an early fishing city, Áspero or El Áspero, located on the west coast of Peru, near the mouth of the Supe River. There, remains of human sacrifices (two children and a newborn) have been found, and more recently (2016), the remains of a woman, who presumably belonged to the local elite of 4,500 years ago.
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