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89-615: Norte Chico (Spanish: Small North ) may refer to: Norte Chico civilization , an ancient Peruvian civilization. Norte Chico, Peru, the Peruvian north-central coast of the Lima Region , specifically the Huaura , Huaral and Barranca provinces. Norte Chico, Chile One of three fictitious "barbarian" chieftains in the 2008 video game Civilization Revolution Topics referred to by

178-399: A broad range of empirical data on the production, processing, and consumption of maize. New data drawn from coprolites , pollen records, and stone tool residues, combined with 126 radiocarbon dates, demonstrate that maize was widely grown, intensively processed, and constituted a primary component of the diet throughout the period from 3000 to 1800 BC. For Beresford-Jones, his new research on

267-477: A dietary backbone of this and later pre-Columbian civilizations. Moseley found a small number of maize cobs in 1973 at Aspero (also seen in site work in the 1940s and 1950s) but has since called the find "problematic". However, increasing evidence has emerged about the importance of maize in this period: Archaeological testing at a number of sites in the Norte Chico region of the north central coast provides

356-600: A group of autonomous polities that shared a common elite culture, as seen in the rich iconography and monumental architecture that survive today. They are particularly noted for their elaborately painted ceramics , gold work, monumental constructions ( huacas ) and irrigation systems. Moche history may be broadly divided into three periods – the emergence of the Moche culture in Early Moche (CE 100–300), its expansion and florescence during Middle Moche (CE 300–600), and

445-663: A group of lordships located in the Altiplano . The kingdoms were established around 1151 after the collapse of the Tiwanaku Empire until they were absorbed into the Inca Empire in 1477. The Inca Empire , or Incan Empire ( Quechua : Tawantinsuyu ), was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America . The administrative, political and military center of the empire was located in Cusco . The Inca civilization arose from

534-583: A millennium after Sumer in Mesopotamia , was contemporaneous with the Egyptian pyramids , and predated the Mesoamerican Olmecs by nearly two millennia. In archaeological nomenclature, Caral–Supe is a pre-ceramic culture of the pre-Columbian Late Archaic ; it completely lacked ceramics and no evidence of visual art has survived. The most impressive achievement of the civilization

623-511: A religious movement. The culture apparently began in the Peruvian highlands and then spread outward throughout the country. The Chavín culture has very distinctive art styles, particularly in effigy pots, a number of which were in feline shapes. Chavin de Huantar was an important ritual centre for Chavin Culture, dating to around 1,500 BCE. The Nazca culture (also Nasca) was the archaeological culture that flourished from 100 to 800 CE beside

712-408: A ruling elite to provide the benefit of cloth for clothing, bags, wraps, and adornment". He is willing to admit to a mutual dependency dilemma: "The prehistoric residents of the Norte Chico needed the fish resources for their protein and the fishermen needed the cotton to make the nets to catch the fish." Thus, identifying cotton as a vital resource produced in the inland does not by itself resolve

801-417: A settlement called Gran Pajáten where some ceramics have been dated to 200 BCE. The largest Chacapoyan site discovered so far is Kuelap . A number of mummified burial sites have also been discovered. The Wari ( Spanish : Huari ) were a Middle Horizon civilization that flourished in the south-central Andes and coastal area of Peru, from about CE 500 to 1000. (The Wari culture is not to be confused with

890-630: A small part of southwest Colombia into a state comparable to the historical empires of the Old World . The Diaguita culture formed in 1000 CE after emerging from the Las Ánimas culture . The Calchaquí tribe fought against expansion by both the Inca Empire and the Spanish Empire until they surrendered to Spanish rule after their defeat in the Calchaquí Wars in 1665. The Muisca

979-409: A summary of the literature. Concomitant to the maritime subsistence hypothesis was an implied dominance of sites immediately adjacent to the coast over other centers. This idea was shaken by the realization of the magnitude of Caral, an inland site. Supplemental to a 1997 article by Shady dating Caral, a 2001 Science news article emphasized the dominance of agriculture and also suggested that Caral

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1068-598: A survey of the Caral research, and a 2004 article in Nature , describing fieldwork and radiocarbon dating across a wider area, revealed Caral–Supe's full significance and led to widespread interest. The dating of the Caral–Supe sites has pushed back the estimated beginning date of complex societies in the Peruvian region by more than one thousand years. The Chavín culture , c.  900 BC , had previously been considered

1157-463: A total lack of ceramics persists across the period. Crops were cooked by roasting. The lack of pottery was accompanied by a lack of archaeologically apparent art. In conversation with Mann, Alvaro Ruiz observes: "In the Norte Chico we see almost no visual arts. No sculpture, no carving or bas- relief , almost no painting or drawing—the interiors are completely bare. What we do see are these huge mounds—and textiles." Andean civilizations Despite

1246-479: A true system of writing. If it is true writing, it is still unique because it is not a set of symbols, but rather knotted strings. The use of the quipu dates back at least to the Wari Empire (600–1000 CE) and possibly to the much earlier civilization of Caral/Norte Chico of the third millennium BCE. Andean civilizations also lacked wheeled vehicles and draft animals. People on land traveled only by foot and

1335-453: A unique emergence of human government, one of two alongside Sumer (or three, if Mesoamerica is included as a separate case). While in other cases, the idea of government would have been borrowed or copied, in this small group, government was invented . Other archaeologists have rejected such claims as hyperbolic. In exploring the basis of possible government, Haas suggests three broad bases of power for early complex societies: He finds

1424-417: A variety of residential architecture were discovered at this site. The monumental architecture was constructed with quarried stone and river cobbles. Using reed "shicra-bags", some of which have been preserved, laborers would have hauled the material to sites by hand. Roger Atwood of Archaeology magazine describes the process: Armies of workers would gather a long, durable grass known as shicra in

1513-431: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Norte Chico civilization Caral–Supe (also known as Caral and Norte Chico ) was a complex Pre-Columbian era society that included as many as thirty major population centers in what is now the Caral region of north-central coastal Peru . The civilization flourished between the fourth and second millennia BC, with

1602-533: Is from 3200 BC onward that large-scale human settlement and communal construction are clearly apparent. Mann, in a survey of the literature in 2005, suggests "sometime before 3200 BC, and possibly before 3500 BC" as the beginning date of the Caral–Supe formative period. He notes that the earliest date securely associated with a city is 3500 BC, at Huaricanga , in the Fortaleza area of the north, based on Haas's dates. Haas's early third millennium dates suggest that

1691-575: Is in decline, we begin to find extensive canals farther north. People were moving to more fertile ground and taking their knowledge of irrigation with them". It would be 1,000 years before the rise of the next great Peruvian culture, the Chavín . Cultural links with the highland areas have been noted by archaeologists. Ruth Shady highlights the links with the Kotosh Religious Tradition : Numerous architectural features found among

1780-444: Is ongoing regarding two related questions: the degree to which the flourishing of the Caral–Supe was based on maritime food resources, and the exact relationship this implies between the coastal and inland sites. A broad outline of the Caral–Supe diet has been suggested. At Caral, the edible domesticated plants noted by Shady are squash , beans , lúcuma , guava , pacay ( Inga feuilleei ), and sweet potato . Haas et al. noted

1869-671: Is seen as decisive in the emergence of Caral–Supe; since all of the monumental architecture at various sites has been found close to irrigation channels. The radiocarbon work of Jonathan Haas et al. , found that 10 of 95 samples taken in the Pativilca and Fortaleza areas dated from before 3500 BC. The oldest, dating from 9210 BC, provides "limited indication" of human settlement during the Pre-Columbian Early Archaic era. Two dates of 3700 BC are associated with communal architecture, but are likely to be anomalous. It

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1958-424: Is which of the areas developed first and created a template for subsequent development. Haas rejects suggestions that maritime development at sites immediately adjacent to the coast was initial, pointing to contemporaneous development based on his dating. Moseley remains convinced that coastal Aspero is the oldest site, and that its maritime subsistence served as a basis for the civilization. The use of cotton (of

2047-598: The zaque ; and Bacatá the southern area, whose sovereign was the zipa . Both confederations were located in the highlands of modern-day Cundinamarca and Boyacá ( Altiplano Cundiboyacense ) in the central area of Colombia 's Eastern Ranges . Timoto–Cuica people was composed primarily of two tribes, the Timotes and the Cuicas , that inhabited in the Andean region of western Venezuela . They were closely related to

2136-478: The Andean highlands , hallucinogenic snuff from the Amazon ." (Given the still limited extent of Caral–Supe research, such claims should be treated circumspectly.) Other reports on Shady's work indicate Caral traded with communities in the jungle farther inland and, possibly, with people from the mountains. Haas postulates that ideological power exercised by leadership was based on apparent access to deities and

2225-616: The Ica Region was named for this people. The Moche civilization (alternately, the Mochica culture, Early Chimu , Pre-Chimu, Proto-Chimu, etc.) flourished in northern Peru from about 100 CE to 800 CE, during the Regional Development Epoch . While this issue is the subject of some debate, many scholars contend that the Moche were not politically organized as a monolithic empire or state. Rather, they were likely

2314-518: The Inca Empire , flourishing as the ritual and administrative capital of a major state power for approximately five hundred years. The ruins of the ancient city state are near the south-eastern shore of Lake Titicaca in the La Paz Department , Ingavi Province , Tiwanaku Municipality , about 72 km (45 mi) west of La Paz . The site was first recorded in written history by Spanish conquistador and self-acclaimed "first chronicler of

2403-619: The Kotosh Religious Tradition in the highlands. This was followed by the Ceramic Period. Various complex societies developed at this time, such as Chavín culture , lasting from 900 BCE to 200 BCE, Paracas culture , lasting from 800 BCE to 200 BCE, its successor Nazca culture , lasting from 200 BCE to 800 CE, the Moche civilisation, lasting from 100 to 700, Wari and Tiwanaku Empires , with both lasting from 600 to 1000, and Chimor , lasting from 900 to 1470. In later periods, much of

2492-891: The Muisca people of the Andes , who spoke a Chibcha language . The Timoto-Cuicas were not only composed of the Timoto and the Cuica tribes, but also the Mucuchíes, the Migures, the Tabares, and the Mucuñuques. Timoto-Cuica society was complex with pre-planned permanent villages, surrounded by irrigated, terraced fields. They also stored water in tanks.Their houses were made primarily of stone and wood with thatched roofs. They were peaceful, for

2581-471: The supernatural . Evidence regarding Caral–Supe religion is limited: in 2003, an image of the Staff God , a leering figure with a hood and fangs, was found on a gourd that dated to 2250 BC. The Staff God is a major deity of later Andean cultures, and Winifred Creamer suggests the find points to worship of common symbols of deities. As with much other research at Caral–Supe, the nature and significance of

2670-466: The 2001 Shady paper, the BBC suggests workers would have been "paid or compelled" to work on centralized projects of this sort, with dried anchovies possibly serving as a form of currency. Mann points to "ideology, charisma, and skilfully timed reinforcement" from leaders. When compared to the common Eurasian models of the development of civilization, Caral–Supe's differences are striking. In Caral–Supe,

2759-637: The Americas and one of the Cradles of civilization where civilization separately originated in the ancient world. It flourished between the 30th century BCE and the 18th century BCE. The alternative name, Caral-Supe, is derived from the Sacred City of Caral in the Supe Valley, a large and well-studied Norte Chico site. Complex society in Norte Chico arose a millennium after Sumer in Mesopotamia ,

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2848-709: The Andean civilizations lacked money. Copper axe-monies (also called "naipes") and Spondylus shells functioned as mediums of exchange in some areas, especially coastal Ecuador , but most of the Andes area had economies organized on reciprocity and redistribution rather than money and markets. These characteristics were especially notable during the Inca Empire but originated in much earlier times. Agriculture in South America may have begun in coastal Ecuador with

2937-741: The Andean civilizations, notably influencing religion and architecture. After the first humans — who were then arranged into hunter-gatherer tribal groups — arrived in South America via the Isthmus of Panama , they spread out across the continent, with the earliest evidence for settlement in the Andean region dating to circa 15,000 BCE, in what archaeologists call the Lithic Period. In the ensuing Andean preceramic period, plants began to be widely cultivated, and first complex society, Caral-Supe civilization , emerged at 3500 BCE, and lasted until 1800 BCE. Also, distinct religious centres emerged, such as

3026-436: The Andean region was conquered by the indigenous Incas , who in 1438 founded the largest empire that the Americas had ever seen, named Tahuantinsuyu , but usually called the Inca Empire. The Inca governed their empire from the capital city of Cuzco , administering it along traditional Andean lines. The Inca Empire rose from Kingdom of Cuzco , founded around 1230. In the 16th century, Spanish colonisers from Europe arrived in

3115-573: The Andes include potatoes , quinoa , tomatoes , chile peppers , cotton , coca , tobacco , pineapples , peanuts , and several varieties of beans . Animals domesticated in the Andes were llamas and guinea pigs . The challenges of the environment required sophisticated agricultural technology. Unlike the Middle East , the Andes lacked easily domesticated and large-seeded plants such as wheat and barley and large and easily domesticated animals such as horses and cattle . Agriculture on

3204-538: The Andes, eventually subjugating the indigenous kingdoms and incorporating the Andean region into the Spanish Empire . The civilization of the Andes was one of six in the world deemed by scholars to be "pristine" , that is indigenous and not derived from other civilizations. Due to its isolation from other civilizations, the indigenous people of the Andes had to come up with their own, often unique solutions to environmental and societal challenges. Andean civilization lacked several characteristics distinguishing it from

3293-571: The Indies" Pedro Cieza de León . Leon stumbled upon the remains of Tiwanaku in 1549 while searching for the Inca capital Qullasuyu . Some have hypothesized that Tiwanaku's modern name is related to the Aymara term taypiqala , meaning "stone in the center", alluding to the belief that it lay at the center of the world. However, the name by which Tiwanaku was known to its inhabitants may have been lost, as

3382-551: The MFAC hypothesis now "emerges more persuasive than ever". It was the potential for increased quantities of food production that the cultivation of cotton allowed that was the key in precipitating revolutionary social change and social complexity, according to the authors. Previous to that, the gathering of bast fibers of wild Asclepias was used for fiber production, which was far less efficient. Beresford-Jones and others also offered further support for their theories in 2021. It

3471-488: The Peruvian coast. It is possible that the major inland centers of Caral–Supe, were at the center of a broad regional trade network centered on these resources. Citing Shady, a 2005 article in Discover magazine suggests a rich and varied trade life: "[Caral] exported its own products and those of Aspero to distant communities in exchange for exotic imports: Spondylus shells from the coast of Ecuador , rich dyes from

3560-551: The Peruvian highlands sometime in the early 13th century, and the last Inca stronghold was conquered by the Spanish in 1572. From 1438 to 1533 CE, the Incas used a variety of methods, from conquest to peaceful assimilation, to incorporate a large portion of western South America, centered on the Andean mountain ranges, including Peru, southwest Ecuador , western and south central Bolivia , northwest Argentina , northern Chile , and

3649-416: The absence of warfare contrasts markedly to archaeological theory, which suggests that human beings move away from kin-based groups to larger units resembling " states " for mutual defense of often scarce resources. In Caral–Supe, a vital resource was present: arable land generally, and the cotton crop specifically, but Mann noted that apparently, the move to greater complexity by the culture was not driven by

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3738-437: The anchovy fish reached inland is clear, although Haas suggests that " shellfish [which would include clams and mussels], sea mammals , and seaweed do not appear to have been significant portions of the diet in the inland, non-maritime sites". The role of seafood in the Caral–Supe diet has aroused debate. Much early fieldwork was conducted in the region of Aspero on the coast, before the full scope and inter-connectedness of

3827-576: The ancient world. This civilization flourished along three rivers, the Fortaleza , the Pativilca, and the Supe. These river valleys each have large clusters of sites. Farther south, there are several associated sites along the Huaura River. The name Caral–Supe is derived from the city of Caral in the Supe Valley, a large and well-studied Caral–Supe site. Complex society in the Caral–Supe arose

3916-519: The city of Chiclayo , and Cerro Baul in Moquegua . Also well-known are the Wari ruins of Pikillaqta ("Flea Town"), a short distance south-east of Cuzco en route to Lake Titicaca . Tiwanaku (Spanish: Tiahuanaco and Tiahuanacu) is an important Pre-Columbian archaeological site in western Bolivia , South America. Tiwanaku is recognized by Andean scholars as one of the most important precursors to

4005-521: The coast, approximately 150 to 200 km north of Lima , roughly bounded by the Lurín Valley on the south and the Casma Valley on the north. It comprises four coastal valleys: the Huaura , Supe , Pativilca , and Fortaleza . Known sites are concentrated in the latter three, which share a common coastal plain. The three principal valleys cover only 1,800 km², and research has emphasized

4094-523: The density of the population centers. The Peruvian littoral appears an "improbable, even aberrant" candidate for the "pristine" development of civilization, compared to other world centers. It is extremely arid, bounded by two rain shadows (caused by the Andes to the east, and the Pacific trade winds to the west). The region is punctuated by more than 50 rivers that carry Andean snowmelt. The development of widespread irrigation from these water sources

4183-408: The desert coast required the development of irrigation. In the mountains, the elevation, cold climate and steep terrain required a range of technological solutions such as terraces ( andén ), exploitation of microclimates, and selective breeding . Due to the climatic uncertainties, farmers traditionally farmed several crops at several elevations and exposures. At a macro level, societies and states did

4272-582: The development of coastal and inland sites occurred in parallel. But, from 2500 to 2000 BC, during the period of greatest expansion, the population and development decisively shifted toward the inland sites. All development apparently occurred at large interior sites such as Caral, although they remained dependent on fish and shellfish from the coast. The peak in dates is in keeping with Shady's dates at Caral, which show habitation from 2627 BC to 2020 BC. That coastal and inland sites developed in tandem remains disputed, however (see next section). By around 2200 BC,

4361-513: The domestication of squash about 8000 BCE by the Las Vegas culture . Some scholars believe that the earliest civilizations on the Peruvian coast initially relied more upon maritime resources than agriculture during the formative period of their societies. However, as in all civilizations until the late 19th century, agriculture was the principal occupation of the great majority of the people. The greatest contribution of Andean civilization to

4450-765: The dry southern coast of Peru in the river valleys of the Rio Grande de Nazca drainage and the Ica Valley (Silverman and Proulx, 2002). Having been heavily influenced by the preceding Paracas culture , which was known for extremely complex textiles, the Nazca produced an array of beautiful crafts and technologies such as ceramics, textiles, and geoglyphs (most commonly known as the Nazca lines ). They also built an impressive system of underground aqueducts , known as puquios , that still function today. The Nazca Province in

4539-453: The find has been disputed by other researchers. Mann postulates that the act of architectural construction and maintenance at Caral–Supe may have been a spiritual or religious experience: a process of communal exaltation and ceremony. Shady has called Caral "the sacred city" ( la ciudad sagrada ) and reports that socio-economic and political focus was on the temples, which were periodically remodeled, with major burnt offerings associated with

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4628-463: The first civilization of the area. Regularly, it still is cited incorrectly as such in general works. The discovery of Caral–Supe has also shifted the focus of research away from the highland areas of the Andes and lowlands adjacent to the mountains (where the Chavín, and later Inca , had their major centers) to the Peruvian littoral , or coastal regions. Caral is located in a north-central area of

4717-478: The first two present in ancient Caral–Supe. Economic authority would have rested on the control of cotton, edible plants, and associated trade relationships, with power centered on the inland sites. Haas tentatively suggests that the scope of this economic power base may have extended widely: there are only two confirmed shore sites in the Caral–Supe (Aspero and Bandurria) and possibly two more, but cotton fishing nets and domesticated plants have been found up and down

4806-443: The formation of the first city generally dated to around 3500 BC, at Huaricanga , in the Fortaleza area. From 3100 BC onward, large-scale human settlement and communal construction become clearly apparent. This lasted until a period of decline around 1800 BC. Since the early 21st century, it has been recognized as the oldest-known civilization in the Americas, and as one of the six sites where civilization separately originated in

4895-568: The ground-breaking work during 1973 at Aspero , at the mouth of the Supe Valley, suggested a site of approximately 13 hectares (32 acres). Surveying of the midden suggested extensive prehistoric construction activity. Small-scale terracing was noted, along with more sophisticated platform mound masonry . As many as eleven artificial mounds were estimated to exist at the site. Moseley calls these "Corporate Labor Platforms", given that their size, layout, and construction materials and techniques would have required an organized workforce. The survey of

4984-547: The highlands above the city, tie the grass strands into loosely meshed bags, fill the bags with boulders, and then pack the trenches behind each successive retaining wall of the step pyramids with the stone-filled bags. In this way, the people of Norte Chico achieved formidable architectural success. The largest of the platforms mounds at Caral, the Piramide Mayor , measures 160 by 150 m (520 by 490 ft) and rises 18 m (59 ft) high. In its summation of

5073-733: The influence of Norte Chico civilization spread far along the coast. To the south, it went as far as the Chillon valley, and the site of El Paraiso . To the north, it spread as far as the Santa River valley. The Caral–Supe civilization began to decline c.  1800 BC , with more powerful centers appearing to the south and north along the coast, and to the east inside the belt of the Andes. The success of irrigation-based agriculture at Caral–Supe may have contributed to its being eclipsed. Anthropologist Professor Winifred Creamer of Northern Illinois University notes that "when this civilization

5162-492: The influence of food resources on politics. Archaeologists have been aware of ancient sites in the area since at least the 1940s; early work occurred at Aspero on the coast, a site identified as early as 1905, and later at Caral, farther inland. In the late 1990s, Peruvian archaeologists, led by Ruth Shady , provided the first extensive documentation of the civilization with work at Caral. A 2001 paper in Science , providing

5251-550: The issue of whether the inland centers were a progenitor for those on the coast, or vice versa. Moseley argues that successful maritime centers would have moved inland to find cotton. In a 2018 publication, David G. Beresford-Jones with coauthors have defended Moseley's (1975) Maritime Foundations of Andean Civilization (MFAC) hypothesis. The authors modified and refined the Maritime Foundations of Andean Civilization hypothesis of Moseley. Thus, according to them,

5340-470: The largest and most complex preceramic site, it is not the oldest. They admitted the importance of agriculture to industry and to augment diet, while broadly affirming "the formative role of marine resources in early Andean civilization". Scholars now agree that the inland sites did have significantly greater populations, and that there were "so many more people along the four rivers than on the shore that they had to have been dominant". The remaining question

5429-477: The modern ethnic group and language known as Wari' , with which it has no known link.) Wari , as the former capital city was called, is located 11 km (6.8 mi) north-east of the city of Ayacucho . This city was the center of a civilization that covered much of the highlands and coast of Peru. The best-preserved remnants, beside the Wari Ruins , are the recently discovered Northern Wari ruins near

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5518-553: The modern world has been the plants its people domesticated. Crops grown by the Andeans were often unique to the region. Maize , which found its way to the Andes from Mexico , was often the most important crop at lower and intermediate elevations. The Andeans cultivated an estimated 70 different plants, almost as many as were cultivated in all of Europe and Asia . Many of these plants are no longer cultivated, or are minor crops, but important plants which were domesticated in or near

5607-494: The need for defense or warfare. Caral–Supe sites are known for their density of large sites with immense architecture. Haas argues that the density of sites in such a small area is globally unique for a nascent civilization. During the third millennium BC, Caral–Supe may have been the most densely populated area of the world (excepting, possibly, Northern China). The Supe, Pativilca , Fortaleza, and Huaura River Valleys of Caral–Supe each have several related sites. Evidence from

5696-513: The northern rivers found sites between 10 and 100 ha (25 and 247 acres); between one and seven large platform mounds —rectangular, terraced pyramids —were discovered, ranging in size from 3,000 m (110,000 cu ft) to more than 100,000 m (3,500,000 cu ft). Shady notes that the central zone of Caral, with monumental architecture, covers an area of just greater than 65 hectares (160 acres). Also, six platform mounds, numerous smaller mounds, two sunken circular plazas, and

5785-473: The other hand, was a permanently occupied settlement, and shows a population that was an order of magnitude greater than earlier. Obsidian debitage was abundant at La Yerba III, as opposed to earlier. This suggests an increasing interaction extending to the highlands where obsidian was procured. The population of La Yerba III already practiced some floodplain horticulture. They cultivated gourds, Phaseolus and Canavalia beans, and plant fiber production

5874-516: The people of Tiwanaku had no written language. The Chimú were the residents of Chimor , with its capital at the city of Chan Chan , a large adobe city in the Moche Valley of present-day Trujillo, Peru . The culture arose about 900 CE. The Inca ruler Topa Inca Yupanqui led a campaign which conquered the Chimú around 1470 CE. This was just fifty years before the arrival of the Spanish in

5963-552: The pristine civilizations in the Old World and from the Mesoamerican cultures. First, and perhaps most important, Andean civilizations did not have a written language. Instead, their societies used the quipu , a system of knotted and colored strings, to convey information. Few quipus survive and they have never been fully deciphered. Scholars differ on whether the knotted cords of the quipu were able only to record numerical data or could also be used for narrative communication,

6052-432: The region. Consequently, Spanish chroniclers were able to record accounts of Chimú culture from individuals who had lived before the Inca conquest. Similarly, archaeological evidence suggest Chimor grew out of the remnants of Moche culture ; early Chimú pottery had some resemblance to that of the Moche. Their ceramics are all black, and their work in precious metals is very detailed and intricate. The Aymara kingdoms were

6141-494: The remodeling. Haas notes the absence of any suggestion of physical bases of power, that is, defensive construction, at Caral–Supe. There is no evidence of warfare "of any kind or at any level during the Preceramic Period ". Mutilated bodies, burned buildings, and other tell-tale signs of violence are absent and settlement patterns are completely non-defensive. The evidence of the development of complex government in

6230-404: The same foods in their survey farther north, while adding avocado and achira . In 2013, evidence for maize also was documented by Haas et al. (see below). There was also a significant seafood component at both coastal and inland sites. Shady notes that "animal remains are almost exclusively marine" at Caral, including clams and mussels , and large amounts of anchovies and sardines . That

6319-458: The same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Norte Chico . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Norte_Chico&oldid=1115869055 " Categories : Disambiguation pages Place name disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description

6408-474: The same with the vertical archipelago , establishing colonies at different elevations and locations to increase the possibilities of agricultural success. The Norte Chico civilization , also called Caral, was a complex pre-Columbian society that included as many as 30 major population centers in what is now the Norte Chico region of north-central coastal Peru . It is the oldest known civilization in

6497-700: The settlements of Supe, including subterranean circular courts, stepped pyramids and sequential platforms, as well as material remains and their cultural implications, excavated at Aspero and the valley sites we are digging (Caral, Chupacigarro, Lurihuasi, Miraya), are shared with other settlements of the area that participated in what is known as the Kotosh Religious Tradition. Most specific among these features include rooms with benches and hearths with subterranean ventilation ducts, wall niches, biconvex beads, and musical flutes. Research into Caral–Supe continues, with many unsettled questions. Debate

6586-406: The several sites of the civilization were realized. In a 1973 paper, Michael E. Moseley contended that a maritime subsistence (seafood) economy had been the basis of the society and its remarkably early flourishing, a theory later elaborated as a "maritime foundation of Andean civilization" (MFAC). He confirmed a previously observed lack of ceramics at Aspero , and he deduced that " hummocks " on

6675-414: The severe environmental challenges of high mountains and hyper-arid desert, the Andean civilizations domesticated a wide variety of crops, some of which, such as potatoes , peppers , peanuts , manioc , chocolate , and coca , became of worldwide importance. The Andean civilizations were noteworthy for monumental architecture, an extensive road system , textile weaving, and many unique characteristics of

6764-608: The site constituted the remains of artificial platform mounds . This thesis of a maritime foundation was contrary to the general scholarly consensus that the rise of civilization was based on intensive agriculture, particularly of at least one cereal. The production of agricultural surpluses had long been seen as essential in promoting population density and the emergence of complex society. Moseley's ideas would be debated and challenged (that maritime remains and their caloric contribution were overestimated, for example), but have been treated as plausible as late as 2005, when Mann conducted

6853-581: The societies they created. Less than a century prior to the arrival of the Spanish conquerors, the Incas , from their homeland centered on the city of Cusco , united most Andean cultures into one single empire that encompassed nearly all of what is usually called Andean civilization. The Timoto Cuica of Venezuela remained outside the Inca orbit. The Inca Empire was a patchwork of languages, cultures and peoples. Spanish rule ended or transformed many elements of

6942-530: The species Gossypium barbadense ) played an important economic role in the relationship between the inland and the coastal settlements in this area of Peru. Nevertheless, scholars are still divided over the exact chronology of these developments. Although not edible, cotton was the most important product of irrigation in the Caral–Supe culture, vital to the production of fishing nets (that in turn provided maritime resources) as well as to textiles and textile technology. Haas notes that "control over cotton allows

7031-432: The transport of goods was accomplished by humans or llama , pack animals which could carry loads of up to one-fourth of their weight, a maximum of 45 kilograms (99 lb). Llamas were not big or strong enough to be used for plowing or as riding animals for adults. Moreover, Andean civilizations faced severe environmental challenges. The earliest civilizations were on the hyper-arid desert coast of Peru. Agriculture

7120-426: The two main platform mounds at Caral, appear to have been constructed in one or two intense construction phases. As further evidence of centralized control, Haas points to remains of large stone warehouses found at Upaca, on the Pativilca, as emblematic of authorities able to control vital resources such as cotton. Haas suggests that the labour mobilization patterns revealed by the archaeological evidence, point to

7209-455: The two nearby ancient coastal settlements of La Yerba, on the east bank of Ica River , Peru ( Río Ica ) was very important. This is not far from the southern Peruvian town of Ica . The earlier of these settlement was La Yerba II (7571–6674 Cal BP, or ca 5570–4670 BC). When it was occupied, La Yerba II shell midden was situated rather close to the ancient surf line. This was not a permanently occupied site. A somewhat later site, La Yerba III, on

7298-645: The urban nucleation and subsequent collapse in Late Moche (CE 500–750). The Chachapoyas, or the 'Cloud People', were an Andean civilization living in cloud forests of the Amazonas region of present-day northern Peru. The Incas conquered the Chachapoyas shortly before the arrival of the Spanish in Peru. The first firm evidence of their existence dates back to around 700 CE, although it is possible that they built

7387-509: Was Swiss archaeologist Frédéric Engel  [ fr ] , originally, who coined the term "Cotton Preceramic Stage" in 1957 to describe the unusual coastal sites such Norte Chico that had cotton but lacked ceramics and were very ancient. This stage was seen as running for about 1200 years from 3000 to 1800 BC. The development of Caral–Supe is particularly remarkable for the apparent absence of an agricultural staple food . However, recent studies increasingly dispute this and point to maize as

7476-559: Was contemporaneous with the Egyptian pyramids , and predated the Mesoamerican Olmec by nearly two millennia. The Valdivia Culture is one of the oldest settled cultures recorded in the Americas. It emerged from the earlier Las Vegas culture and thrived on the Santa Elena peninsula near the modern-day town of Valdivia , Ecuador between 3500 BCE and 1800 BCE. The Chavín culture is thought to have been primarily

7565-425: Was its monumental architecture, including large earthwork platform mounds and sunken circular plazas . Archaeological evidence suggests use of textile technology and, possibly, the worship of common deity symbols, both of which recur in pre-Columbian Andean civilizations . Sophisticated government is presumed to have been required to manage the ancient Caral . Questions remain over its organization, particularly

7654-429: Was of great importance for their fishing economy. Therefore, they were "pre-adapted to a Cotton Revolution". The degree of centralized authority is difficult to ascertain, but architectural construction patterns are indicative, at least in certain places at certain times, of an elite population who wielded considerable power: while some of the monumental architecture was constructed incrementally, other buildings, such as

7743-443: Was possible only with irrigation in valleys crossed by rivers coming from the high Andes, plus in a few fog oases called lomas . In the Andes, agriculture was limited by thin soils, cold climate, low or seasonal precipitation, and a scarcity of flat land. Freezing temperatures may occur in every month of the year at altitudes of more than 3,000 metres (9,800 ft), the homeland of many of the highland Andean civilizations. Finally,

7832-526: Was the Chibcha -speaking people that formed the Muisca Confederation in the central highlands of present-day Colombia . They were encountered by the troops of Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada , in name of the Spanish Empire at the time of the conquest in the spring of 1537. The Muisca comprised two confederations: Hunza (present-day Tunja) was located in the northern area, whose sovereign was

7921-461: Was the oldest urban center in Peru (and the entire Americas). It rejected the idea that civilization might have begun adjacent to the coast and then moved inland. One archaeologist was quoted as suggesting that "rather than coastal antecedents to monumental inland sites, what we have now are coastal satellite villages to monumental inland sites". These assertions were quickly challenged by Sandweiss and Moseley, who observed that Caral, although being

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