http://SaturnianCosmology.Org/ mirrored file For complete access to all the files of this collection see http://SaturnianCosmology.org/search.php ========================================================== Caral, the most ancient city in the Americas! Caral is a 5.000 year-old city in ruins in the Peruvian desert's Supe Valley, about 120 km away from Lima and, covers an area of 66 ha. The site is 22 km inland from the coastal town of Puerto Supe. This is not an Inca site, but a Norte Chico* *one, a pre-Inca civilization. Caral was supposedly inhabited between 2.627 B.C. and 2.020 B.C. and is the oldest city in the Americas. Houses, an amphitheatre, temples and pyramids are among the structures of Caral. The ruins were discovered in 1905 and were almost forgotten by scientists until Ruth Shady started an excavation in 1994. Even today, little importance is given to the city of Caral, but nevertheless it is one of the most interesting ancient ruins in the "New World". But why did explorers and adventure-seekers loose their interest in it? Well, no valuable objects were found on the site, the views are not as spectacular as those in the Sacred Valley and seemingly "there's not much to see". Caral is underestimated. Some findings were dated to be even older than 11.000 years (were exactly dated: 9.210 B.C.), meaning that the area was inhabited about 2 times as long ago as the Caral's age stretches into the past. Findings, discoveries at Caral and interesting links to the Incas Even though Caral was not an Inca-built city, archaeologists did come across common and similar objects that were also used by the Incas. For example, the quipu (used for knotted rope message record keeping) was also found on the site. The Incas used the quipu extensively as they did not have any own alphabets, hieroglyphical writing system (unlike the Mayas, the Egyptians). Possibly the quipu was a system used by multiple pre-Columbian civilizations and was also adopted by the Incas. The quipus found in Caral are much simpler than the Inca ones and some specialists doubt that they were used for message keeping. Among interesting findings were 37 cornets of llama and deer bones and 32 flutes made of pelican and condor bones. No gold, no precious stones, not even ceramics were found at the site. Caral is considered to predate the so-called "ceramic period". No ceramics have been found in the area and there's no clue at all whether the locals ever used them. This lead some specialists to the conclusion that they didn't cook their food. The Pyramids of Caral and nearby sites The Caral area includes 19 pyramid structures, built around 5.000 years ago. Sunken circular plazas and platform mounds are characteristic to this city. The largest pyramid has a base of 150 m by 160 m and a height of 18 m. Interestingly Caral was thriving a long time before the Egyptians built the pyramids of Giza. Specialists estimate the population of Caral to have been somewhere around the number of 3.000. But, there are further 17 sites in the area. All added together could have accommodated a population of 20.000 people. Some speculate about why there are pyramids in Caral, how come the Egyptians and the Mayas also built such structures. Many fantasize about links between faraway civilizations, some go as far as to "blame it on the aliens". The answer could possibly be simpler than that: building a pyramid is the easiest thing. What else could they have built large if not pyramids? Circular buildings, for instance are harder to build and are less stable... One cannot think about any simpler shape to build than the pyramid. Who built Caral and what happened to the civilization of the Supe Valley? The civilization that inhabited the area is called the "Norte Chico" civilization, which flourished thousands of years before the Incas. About 30 localities were inhabited by these people, Caral was the biggest one. The possible population was probably under 50.000. Except Caral only smaller towns, rather village-like complexes were found. Archaeologists recognize the theory according to which the Norte Chico civilization belonged to the pre-ceramic era. Meaning that they didn't know/use ceramics at all. The quipus of Caral cannot de deciphered, probably we will never know what messages they hold form the ancients. Archaeologists have found that the city was abandoned about 500 years after its construction. At around 2.100, the population left the city for unknown reasons. Only speculations exists: possible drought, not so likely to have been a conflict, because there are no signs of destruction, no human bones that show signs of violence. The forgotten ancient mysteries For a long time the pyramids of Caral were through to be natural hills, as they were strongly eroded, didn't show the perfection that the great pyramid of Teotihuacán does and they're not located in a mysterious rainforest like Tikal. Nevertheless rainforests are mysterious, attract amateur explorers and scientists, Caral is in a seemingly "boring" desert, not showing too many perspectives for findings. The buildings are badly eroded, damaged and most of them are hardly recognizable and also, the sheer quantity of natural rocks and the vast desert dwarf them. Few tourists visit Caral today, so should you visit the place, you will not find many people walking around. If you visit Caral you will see plazas between eroded pyramids that look like natural hills, remains of walls. Not a spectacular view, but if you want to take a glimpse at what was 5.000 years ago, then you should take a good look. It's remarkable to see the stones that were put together by human hands to build houses 5.000 years ago.