page_title: Caral
section_title: Scope of site
hierarchical_section_title: Caral / Archaeological findings / Scope of site
caption_attribution_description: Wide view of the ruins at Caral, the most excavated ruins of the oldest known civilization in the Americas, the Norte Chico civilization. The Norte Chico Civilization is believed to have started around 3500 BC on the coast and the city of Caral was inhabited from 2627 BC to 2020 BC.
context_page_description: Caral, or Caral-Chupacigarro, was a large settlement in the Supe Valley, near Supe, Barranca Province, Peru, some 200 kilometres north of Lima. Caral is the most ancient city of the Americas and a well-studied site of the Norte Chico civilization.
  The city was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2009.
context_section_description: Caral spawned 19 other temple complexes scattered across the 90 square kilometres (35 sq mi) area of the Supe Valley.
  The date of 2627 BCE is based on carbon dating reed and woven carrying bags that were found in situ. These bags were used to carry the stones that were used for the construction of the temples. The material is an excellent candidate for high precision dating. The site may date even earlier as samples from the oldest parts of the excavation have yet to be dated. The town had a population of approximately 3000 people.
  However, the 19 other sites in the area (posted at Caral), allow for a possible total population of 20,000 people for the Supe Valley. All of these sites share similarities with Caral. They had small platforms or stone circles. Shady believes that Caral was the focus of this civilisation, which itself was part of an even vaster complex, trading with the coastal communities and the regions further inland – as far as the Amazon, if the depiction of monkeys is any indication.
caption: Panorama of Caral Site
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