Caral travel guide

Visitors must report to the tourist post in the car park. US$4, US$1.30 with student card, plus US$6 per group for a guide (Spanish only) if required. For details contact Proyecto Especial Caral, Av Las Lomas de la Molina 327, Urb Las Lomas, Lima 12, T01-495 1515 ext 26, www.caralperu.gob.pe.
Camping is permitted (small fee) at the house of archaeologists working on the site; bring all food.
A few kilometres before Barranca, a turning to the right (east) leads to Caral, a city 20km from the coast whose date (3200-3000 BC) and monumental construction are overturning many of the accepted theories of Peruvian archaeology. It appears to be easily the oldest city-state in South America. Tours operate from Lima.
The dry, desert site lies on the southern fringes of the Supe Valley, along whose flanks there are many more unexcavated ruins. On the coast the fishing port of Bandurria is believed to be the place from where the people of Caral traded. Caral itself covers 66 ha and contains eight significant pyramidal structures. To date seven have been excavated by archaeologists from the University of San Marcos, Lima. One remains unexcavated, a rounded mound of stone and sand showing no discernible sign of its likely inner contents. The seven pyramids investigated reveal a stone and mortar construction with a yellow and white wash being the most common finish, small areas of which remain visible. Archaeologists are undertaking careful renovation upon the existing foundations to re-establish the pyramidal tiers. It is possible to walk around and, in some cases, up on to the pyramids.
A viewpoint provides a panorama across the whole site. Pirámide de Anfiteatro (11 m high), on the north side of the small pyramid, is a large amphitheatre from which a series of ceremonial rooms rise. Pirámide de la Huanca (12 m high)is constructed in three tiers with a 23-step staircase leading up to the ceremonial platform. It takes its name from the large stone obelisk (huanca) in the centre of the plaza, which it overlooks. The residence of the elite, a complex of well-built adobe rooms, abuts the pyramid. Pirámide de la Galería (the gallery pyramid, 17 m high) has a nearly 7-m-wide stairway leading up to a room sunk into the ceremonial platform lined with huarango wood and containing eight huge whalebone vertebrate seats. Pirámide Menor (7.5 m high) is the smallest of the pyramids. Pirámide Mayor (the great pyramid, 153.5 by 110 by 28 m) is the largest pyramid with a sunken circular plaza on its south side. Two lanzones (obelisk-sized stones) frame the two entrances to the plaza and a further lanzón sits atop the pyramid which is reached by an impressive 9-m-wide stairway from the plaza. Pirámide de la Cantera (the quarry pyramid, 13.5 m high) is the only pyramid partly straddling a rock outcrop, much of which was used in its construction. A 4.2-m-wide stairway with 32 steps ascends to the summit, on which is a round, walk-in altar with an outer wall 8 m in diameter and an inner wall 3.7 m in diameter, inside which there was a central fireplace. In addition, there is a long building containing 18 internal niches along each facing wall. El Templo de Altar Circular (4 m high) consists of at least 13 rooms in at least two groupings. Inside one square room there is a 2.7-m-diameter walk-in altar with a central fireplace. Some later adobe ruins of the Chancay era fringe the site. Detailed, illustrated Spanish/English information panels are located around the site, which is well organized, criss-crossed by paths that must be adhered to. Allow at least two hours to visit the site.

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