Caral, the oldest civilisation in AmericaAugust 18 2022 11:42 AM

[Judi Lynn]

By Jose Benzaquen, Ambassador Of Peru

The American continent surprises us from time to time with ancient cultures that we did not know existed, showing us new discoveries such as the Caral Civilisation which is believed to be 5,000 years old and located in the Supe district, Barranca province, Lima Region, in Peru and about 182km north of Lima, the Peruvian capital.

Of this citadel, made up of 7 pyramids and 32 mounds, renowned archaeologists such as Max Uhle, Julio C Tello and Paul Kosok carried out research work in 1905, 1937 and 1947, respectively.

It was the Peruvian archaeologist and anthropologist Ruth Shady, who began her work in 1994, and who in 1997 scientifically supported the antiquity of the Caral culture between the years 2700 and 2550 BC, qualified as a civilisation, and who changed the traditional history of the well-known American civilisations, such as the Inca (1300 to 1450 CE), Maya and Aztec, due to the antiquity of Caral, which has constituted until now a permanent challenge for the continuity of research.

The research work was carried out by a team of scientists from the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos; by the way, the oldest in America (May 12, 1551), and directed by the aforementioned Peruvian archaeologist.

The city of Caral presents characteristics of a civilisation that is not born from a conception of conquest; on the contrary, it is a civilisation that is born from a conception of peace and religiosity.



More:
https://www.gulf-times.com/story/722844/Caral-the-oldest-civilisation-in-America

[Atticus]

1. Once again, thank you for the education. That was a fascinating read about a city

and culture I had no idea ever existed.

[Judi Lynn]

2. Looks as if awareness of Caral is very recent as it appears to have been completely buried by sand!

I only heard of it so recently, too.

Here's a short video I just found, it's under 12 minutes, and this shows the progress of discovery seems to be long, slow, and cautious. They people working on that site must feel so lucky!

It's about time our society starts gaining some respect for other cultures, other places, wouldn't you say? Finding out more about real civilizations already in existance in the Americas should go a long way in waking up the Western Hemisphere of people who actually thought, all this time, we are living in the "New World!"

Thank you for taking the time.

[Judi Lynn]

3. Video from the BBC on Caral:

[scipan]

4. This is wonderful, Judi Lynn. I had no idea.

Gonna watch the videos now. Thanks!

P.S. What is it with pyramids, anyway?

[Judi Lynn]

5. Completely mysterious. Overwhelming! Beyond fascinating. So much to learn. 👋

[scipan]

6. Yes!

In 2020 I got into the immune system because I wanted to understand what the scientists were saying about COVID, then the James Webb telescope, and lots of other stuff in between.

There is so much to learn and we are so lucky to live in this era. But soooo much stupidity at the same time!