Caral, Lima, Peru

The Sacred City of Caral-Supe, or simply Caral, is an archaeological site in Peru where the remains of the main city of the Caral civilization are found. It is located in the Supe valley of Peru, near the current town of Caral, 182 km (113 mi) north of Lima, 23 km (14 mi) from the coast and 350 m (1148 ft) above sea level.

It is attributed an antiquity of 5,000 years and it is considered the oldest city in the Americas and one of the oldest in the world.

The Caral culture developed between 3000 and 1800 BCE (Late Archaic and Lower Formative periods). In America, it is the oldest of the pre-Hispanic civilizations, developing 1,500 years earlier than the Olmec civilization, the first Mesoamerican complex society.

Crossing the Supe River towards Caral
The crossing of the Supe River towards the Sacred City of Caral is done by fording because there is no bridge over the river.

Caral Plan
Plan Legend:

Entrance
Elite residence of the temple of the amphiteatre
Temple of the Amphiteatre
Dividing line between Upper Caral and Lower Caral
Elite residential group
Huanca pyramidal building
Huanca Plaza
Galeria pyramidal building
Lesser pyramidal building
Elite residences
Greater pyramidal building
Residential sub-group A5
Altar of the sacred fire

Reconstruction of the aerial view of Caral

Reconstruction of Caral's social and political organization

Panorama of Caral seen from the Entrance (Plan No. 1)

The civilization and the sacred city of Caral
In the north-central area of Peru, the right social conditions were in place for a change to a civilized way of life, both in the coastal populations and in those of the Andean highlands and Andean jungle.

Supe valley - In the north-central area, Supe Valley was the territory where the populations attained the greatest prestige at that time, as revealed by the numerous settlements with larger areas, more monumental buildings, and greater antiquity than any others identified in the area. Their inhabitants lived in organized urban settiements, where they constructed public buildings and residential complexes.
The largest number of urban settlements, eight out of a total of 20, is concentrated in the lower middle part of Supe Valley. They have a larger extension, construction volume, and architectural complexity than the others in the north-central area.
It is obvious that this part of the valley was home to the most outstanding center of social prestige and cultural influence of the times.

The sacred city of Caral
The Sacred City of Caral is located on a valley-fill terrace at the beginning of the middle valley of the Supe River, in the province of Barranca, north of Lima, on kilometer 184 (mi 114) of the North Pan-American Highway, in the North-central Area of Peru.

Elite residence of the Temple of the Amphiteatre (Plan No. 2)

Elite residence of the Temple of the Amphiteatre - Subsector L13
Architectural group made up of several intercommunicating rooms at the east side of the Temple of the Amphiteatre. The architectural group was connected with the Central Building of the Temple and the Walled Patio.

Urban role - Since it was enclosed within the walls of the Temple of the Amphitheatre, its presence went unnoticed. Activities here were restricted to those of the temple officials or administrators.

Architectural components:

Doorway connecting with the Temple of the Amphitheatre
Stairway connecting with the Temple of the Amphitheatre
Passageway connecting the two main rooms
Room with bench
Ceremonial hall with platform and bench
Room with central platform, connected with the altar
Small square altar painted red and yellow
Platform associated with activities carried out in the patio
Internal patio
Narrow passageway connecting with the walled-in patio

Panorama of the elite residence of the Temple of the Amphiteatre

Temple of the Amphiteatre (Plan No. 3)

Temple of the Amphiteatre - Sector L
The Temple of the Amphitheater is the most notable building in the Lower Half of the city. It is an architectural complex made up of three successive components: an elongated platform with large lateral niches; a sunken circular plaza, the city's largest one; and a walled complex. Located in this complex are the Central Building, an extensive patio around it, the Altar of the Sacred Fire to the east, and rooms grouped on the west side.

The Central Building comprises an antechamber and a ceremonial hall with a raised platform; the Back Room — on the top level — of the highest hierarchy; an elite residence; and other smaller rooms attached.

Urban role - The Temple of the Amphitheatre was the main ceremonial and administrative building in the Lower Half of the city. It was also a control point along the main road to the Upper Half of the city. Taken together with the Greater Pyramidal Building, the Temple of the Amphitheater was an architectural materialization of the dual concept of the people of Caral, in ideological, spatial, and social terms.

Architectural components:

Entry platform; to each side there were at least 12 aligned cubicles
The Amphitheatre: a large sunken circular plaza, with tiers of seating steps in the south half and two entry stairways
Ante-chamber with a central space and two large side spaces
Ceremonial Hall with stepped benches around a central fireplace
Room behind the Ceremonial Hall, with raised central platform
Room of Greatest Hierarchy, with sunken central cell
Back Ceremonial Hall
Elite residential group
Altar of the Sacred Fire

Panorama of the Temple of the Amphiteatre

Entry platform
To each side there were at least 12 aligned cubicles.

Dividing line between Upper Caral and Lower Caral (Plan No. 4 - Blue line)

Panorama of the dividing line between Upper Caral and Lower Caral
Upper Caral is located in the top half of the photo and Lower Caral in the bottom half of the photo.

Elite residential group (Plan No. 5)

Elite residential group - Sub-sector I2
Located to the left of the Huanca Pyramidal Building. This is composed of two large residences, side by side; they both have fine finishings and a square altar with a fireplace and underfloor ventilation. At the entrance to each house there was a room with a central fireplace surrounded by benches, imitating on a smaller scale the ceremonial halls of the pyramidal buildings. From this entrance room, there was access to other rooms, production workshops, storerooms, and interior patios.

The occupants of the residences enjoyed a high social status in the city. They were possibly in charge of administrating the Huanca Pyramidal Building. An interesting find in one of the houses was an axe made of quartz, which, judging by its fragility, could only have been used for ceremonial purposes.

Urban role - Both residences were aligned with one of the streets that led to the city’s Central Plaza, as was also the west facade of the Huanca Pyramidal Building.

Architectural components:

Entrance hall with central fireplace and benches
Patio for domestic activities
Rooms for lodging, storerooms, and production workshops
Square altar with fireplace and underfloor ventilation ducts
Entrance platform

Panorama of the Elite residential group

Detail of the square altar with a fire pit

Huanca pyramidal building (Plan No. 6)

Huanca pyramidal building - Sector I
Located to the southeast of the Upper Half of the Sacred City of Caral, 55 m (180 ft) from the Galery Pyramidal Building, it consists of a single stepped pyramidal volume, square in shape. On the main facade, on the north side, they built a central stairway, which led to the top of the building, with the axis oriented towards “huanca” or standing stone. They remodeled the central stairway three times, finally get it a width of 5,5 m (18 ft).

At the top of the building, during the Ancient and Middle periods, they installed a ceremonial hall with quincha (wattle-and-daub) walis, and other annexed rooms. In the Late period, they replaced the quincha by stone walls. They set some small secondary stairways into the terraces on the south-east of the building, one meter wide, to connect the base of the building to the top. In the Southern side of the building is located the Residential Complex I2 and a square altar that has an undergrounded ventilation duct.

Urban role - The Huanca Pyramidal Building and the Gallery Pyramidal Building delimited the space of the Huanca Plaza, in the center of which they set up a monolith or “huanca”, a support for different astronomical and ceremonial activities. Roads from the east and south-east of the city converged in this Plaza.

Architectural components:

Central stairway
Superimposed terraces
Ceremonial hall
Rooms with benches
Secondary starways

Panorama of the Huanca pyramidal building

Huanca Plaza (Plan No. 7)

Huanca monolith from southwest
The Huanca Pyramidal Building and the Gallery Pyramidal Building delimited the space of the Huanca Plaza, in the center of which they set up a monolith or “huanca”, a support for different astronomical and ceremonial activities.

Roads from the east and south-east of the city converged in this Plaza.

Huanca Plaza from north
In the background of the photo we can see the Huanca pyramidal building (Plan No. 6).

Galeria pyramidal building (Plan No. 8)

Galeria pyramidal building - Sector H
This is the third largest pyramidal building in the Sacred City of Caral, after the Greater Pyramidal Building and the Central Pyramidal Building. It is located in the extreme east of the city. Together with the Huanca Pyramidal Building, it forms the plaza where the monolith or “Huanca” was erected.

They constructed this building with a single stepped pyramidal volume. In successive architectural periods, they built central stairways, higher each time, to get to the top of the building, where they constructed a Ceremonial Hall and several annexed rooms. In the early period they had the main facade facing north. In the late period they changed the main facade to face west, they installed an underfloor gallery at the top of the building, and they built secondary stairways, alternating, on the south facade of the building. On the south side, at the foot of the architectural structure, was the group where the building's administrators lived.

Urban role - This building delimited, to the east, the city's central open space. It wae the first architectural building seen by people as they arrived from the upper middle valley. Together with the Huanca Pyramidal Building, it delimited the Huanca Plazuela (small plaza).

Architectural components:

Superimposed terraces
Central stairway
Ceremonial hall with central fireplace
Underfloor gallery
Auxiliary stairways on the south facade, which connected the top of the building with Residential Groups H2, H3 and H4
Tenoned stones on the north facade of the pyramidal building
Structural decoration on the upper platform

Panorama of the Galeria pyramidal building

Tenoned stones on the north facade of the pyramidal building

Lesser pyramidal building (Plan No. 9)

Lesser pyramidal building - Sector G
It is located on the upper half of Caral city. In its first stages was facing North and in its facade was put a central staircase to get the central fire pit in the ceremonial room on the top of the building. In later stages, at the same time when the upper half of the city was been redesigned, they changed the facade into the West, also the staircase and the rooms of the top. Finally, they moved the axis of the architectural components of the building 4.5 m (14 ft) towards the South, but preserved the same orientation of the building.

On the Southern and Northern facades they built small staircases of 1 m (3 ft) wide in order to faciitate the circulation between the terraces and the access to the rooms on the top.

Urban role - The building and the elite residences E2 and E3 marked the Minor Plaza which is located in the North-Eastern side of the Major Plaza, in the Upper Half of the city, and the access streets in the North-Eastern edge of the city.

Architectural components: For the Late Period, a complex of narrow passages and rooms can be seen on the top of the building.

Central staircase belonging to the Late Period
Staircase of secondary access
Stepped terraces
Room on the top
Passages

Panorama of the Lesser pyramidal building

Elite residences (Plan No. 10)

Elite residences - Sub-sector E2, E3
Buildings located on the northeast side of the Upper Half of the Urban Center of Caral, between the Greater Pyramidal Building and the Lesser Pyramidal Building.

This is made up of two buildings that were independent during a first period, but after several remodeling processes they were joined to form a single complex buliding.

Urban role - The building was located in a strategic area, with visual domination and control of the valley and the two streets that led to the Urban Center of Caral. Together with the Lesser Pyramidal Building, it formed a shared public space, part of the Great Central Plaza.

Architectural components:

Central stairway
Platforms
Ceremonial hall with fireplace and bench
Annexed rooms
Round altar

Panorama of the Elite residences

Panorama of the Supe River seen from the Elite residences

Greater pyramidal building (Plan No. 11)

Greater pyramidal building - Sector E
A large and impressive building, located in a predominant position on the Central Plaza of Caral. Its position permits visual contro! not only of the activities being carried out in the city but also of a large part of the capital zone in the medium valley.

This central pyramidal volume of stepped platforms had two side volumes added to it as wings, with the same characteristics.

They built two large platforms on the main facade as an antechamber, to give the building monumentality. They annexed a circular plaza to the pyramidal volume, and connected this to the top of the building with a central stairway.

At the top of the building they located three ceremonial halls, one main central one and two secondary side ones, as well as an altar with fire, and rooms adorned with niches and interconnecting storehouses.

Research has made it possible to characterize the architecture of the Late and Middle periods of the building, superimposed on earlier architectural structures, as yet unknown.

Urban role - Major Pyramidal Building headed the Great Central Plaza, towards which its facade and its main staircase are facing. Its large structure and monumentality stood out in the cultural and natural landscape of the capital zone. Together with the Greater Pyramidal Building, the Central Building, and the Quarry Building, it defined the four cardinal axes of the design and urban outlay of the upper part of Caral.

Architectural components: It is a building compounded by a sunken circular plaza, a great central pyramid made of stepped platforms and two lesser structures built like lateral wings. All its components are typical of the Early Formative Period of the Supe Valley, that is, ceremonial rooms, fire altars, rooms with niches, benches and central fire pits on top the building.

Circular plaza
Front platforms
Stepped platforms
Main staircases
Secondary staircase
Ceremonial room with central fire pit and stepped benches
Rear room (behind the ceremonial room)
Major room, decorated with niches
Square fire altar that has an undergrounded ventilation duct
Control room
Eastem and western “wings” compounded by stepped terraces and staircases leading the top where secular functions rooms are located
West residential set

Altar square in the Major Pyramidal Building
It is one of the only two similar altars in Caral. It has a square design and other relevant features such as a mixed undergrounded air circulation duct (straight and circular) which has an input opening and four air outputs towards the fire pit. It also has a small channel in the floor that is located in the main air circulation axis between the fire pit and the entrance opening.

It was built in one of the later phases of the Major Pyramidal Building and was used until the building was left.

Function - This altar forms an important ritual space that is linked to the religious practices that were periodically made in Caral. Those activities would be part of an ideological system which would have had a fundamental role in the society. These activities would have been conducted by the elite members who also led the religious, administrative and political activities of this public building.

Architectural components:

Walls in the square room
Fire pit
Undergrounded ventilation duct
Channel

Circular plaza of the Greater pyramidal building

Panorama of the Greater pyramidal building

Residential sub-group A5 (Plan No. 12)

Residential sub-group A5 - Sub-sector A5
The Residential Subgroup A5 is located on the south side of the Great Central Plaza, and it forms part of the Greater Residential Group of the Urban Center of Caral.

It is made up of a set of housing units constructed with quincha (wattle-and-daub), arranged together on a large square stone platform. Its dimensions are bigger than those of any other residential subgroup in the Upper Half of the city.

The residences were organized in hierarchical order around a shared central space. Access to the most noteworthy residence in the group was by means of a principal stairway, while entry to other areas on the top of the platform was by secondary stairways. Each residence comprised a main entry room and other secondary rooms that had multiple functions in addition to their domestic role.

Urban role - The Residential Subgroup A5 was built on the south side of the Central Plaza, which facilitated access to the activities carried out in this public place. Together with the Huanca Pyramidal Building. It delimited the main west access road to the Central Plaza. From the top, one could observe the activities taking place in the Central Plaza and in all of the Lower Half of Caral.

Architectural components:

Main residential unit
Secondary residential unit
Patio

Panorama of the Residential sub-group A5

Quincha (wattle-and-daub)
Wattle and daub is a composite building method used for making walls and buildings, in which a woven lattice of wooden strips called "wattle" is "daubed" with a sticky material usually made of some combination of wet soil, clay, sand, animal dung and straw.

Quincha is a Spanish term widely known in Latin America, borrowed from Quechua qincha (kincha in Kichwa).
The construction technology is said to have existed for at least 8,000 years.
In Peru, it is a popular construction design in the coastal regions. It is also adopted in urban centers after the incidence of earthquakes such as the case of the rebuilding of the city of Trujillo after the 1759 earthquake.
See more at Quincha - Wikipedia and Wattle and daub - Wikipedia.

Altar of the sacred fire (Plan No. 13)

Altar of the sacred fire - Sub-sector L-14
The Altar of the Sacred Fire (L-14) is a small private ceremonial building, located in the inner walled space of the Temple of the Amphitheatre.

Fire - Experts with knowledge of what today we would call fluid mechanics designed and constructed the fireplaces with underfloor ventilation systems. It can be seen that they oriented and shaped the ducts to achieve a “Venturi effect” (not defined in Europe until the 18th century CE), which would fan the fire to very high temperatures, possibly to obtain complete combustion, or even incineration.

Fireplace - The presence of fireplaces in the Ceremonial Halls and the so-called Fire Altars was due to the need to burn the offerings (farm produce, marine products, and textiles) that they made to their gods or ancestors.

Underfloor ventilation duct - The use of underfloor ventilation ducts for the fireplaces allows us to affirm that the ancient inhabitants of Caral discovered, centuries in advance of western society, several of the properties of air flows and how to apply them in useful technology.

Architectural components: