Archaeological culture · c. 800–100 BCE
Paracas culture
An Andean society of the Ica region on Peru's south coast, known for its cemeteries on the Paracas Peninsula. Its people mastered irrigation and made superb embroidered textiles and painted pottery.
Communities were run by local chiefs rather than a single ruler. The earliest Nazca Lines were made by Paracas people, and the Nazca culture that followed was strongly influenced by it.
See Paracas culture on the map in 800 BCE
- On the map
- 800–100 BCE
How we know
No writing existed; known mostly from cemeteries on the Paracas Peninsula dug since the 1920s, dated by radiocarbon and pottery styles.
Sites
- Paracas cemeteries (Cerro Colorado) c. 800–100 BCE