Caral: the oldest civilisation on the continent of the Americas

Peru: A history lost in the ruins (telegraph.co,uk) "Nine years ago, a discovery was made about a place called Caral in northern Peru that transformed the understanding of human history in the Americas.

During the 20th century Caral remained unexplored, just one among many ancient sites dotting the coastal strip between Lima and Peru's border with Ecuador in the north. From the pyramids of the Moche people to Chan Chan, the vast adobe city of the Chimu empire, which immediately predated the Incas, succeeding city states had evolved and dissolved. All were fascinating but none was regarded as pre-eminent.

In 2000, carbon dating of a bag woven from plant fibres proved that the 163-acre site had been built between 3000 and 2100BC, making it the oldest civilisation on the continent of the Americas and contemporaneous with the pyramids of Giza in Egypt. "

Read about the History of Peru and Archaeology and Archaeological Sites of South America.