Archaeological culture · c. 3500–1800 BCE
Caral–Supe (Norte Chico) civilization
The oldest known civilization in the Americas, in four small river valleys of Peru's north-central coast: the Fortaleza, Pativilca, Supe and Huaura. Its people built large platform mounds and sunken circular plazas at as many as 30 centres, including Caral, without pottery.
Irrigation from the snow-fed rivers was key to farming, and coastal towns such as Áspero lived largely from the sea. It declined around 1800 BCE.
See Caral–Supe (Norte Chico) civilization on the map in 3500 BCE
- On the map
- 3500–1800 BCE
How we know
No writing existed; known from about 30 large sites dated by radiocarbon, mostly excavated since the 1990s.
Sites
- Caral (Sacred City of Caral-Supe) c. 2600–2000 BCE