Peru: Sipán and Caral

Welcome to Peru! I hope you all enjoyed your flight. I must say, I'm excited to be here. I don't know as much about South America and its culture as I do about Europe and Asia, so I'm very excited to start learning a little bit about this part of the world!

Peru is located in western part of South America boarding the Pacific Ocean.  The capital and largest city of this country is Lima. This country was once home to several ancient cultures, making it rife with cultural sites we can visit. In the 16th century this country, along with much of South America, was conquered by the Spanish Empire. The country then gained its independence from Spain in 1821. The history of this country has affected the languages spoken. The official language of Peru is Spanish, influenced by the time it was under Spanish reign. However, many people there speak native languages, such as Quechua, that were spoken before the invasion of the Spanish.

So, as I said, one thing that makes Peru so exciting to visit is that the country has so much culture and history. There were several ancient cultures that lived in Peru, and some of the architecture from these cultures has been preserved. While there are numerous sites that are wonderful to visit, on this trip we are going to visit three: Sipán, Caral, and Machu Picchu.

The first archeological site that we'll visit on our trip is Sipán. Sipán is an archeological site of the Moche people. The Moche were an ancient civilization that resided in what is today northern Peru from around 100 AD to 800 AD. Sipán is mostly known for the tombs that were discovered there in 1987. What was remarkable about the discovery was the fact that the tombs had not been looted or found by others, and were therefore intact when discovered. The most famous tomb found here is that of the Lord of Sipán.

While here, we should also visit the Royal Tombs of Sipan Museum. Many of the objects discovered in the tomb, as well as the remains of the Lord of Sipán and a few others have been set up in this museum so they can be preserved and viewed by others. By looking at the objects preserved all these years, we can learn a lot about the culture of the Moche people.


Our next cultural site in Peru is Caral. What makes Caral so unique to visit is the fact that it is the most ancient city in the Americas. This ancient city was settled in the Supe Valley by the Caral (or Norte Chico) civilization. It is believed that the Caral people resided in this city from around 2600 BC to 2000 BC and that at one point, more than 3,000 people resided in this area.  

What is also very interesting about Caral are the pyramids there. There is the Main Pyramids of Caral which is 60ft tall. There are also 19 smaller pyramids that have been found in the area of the Supe Valley and it is believed that these were built by the Caral civilization as well. It is interesting to note that the existance of this civilzation and the building of these pyramids occured around the same time in Egypt.

Many other things have been discovered that give us insight into how this ancient civilization went about day to day life. Temples and houses have been found as well as musical instruments, jewelery and day to day household objects. It appears that the Caral people had a complex, developed civilization. Although all of these artifacts have been found, there have been no weapons, mutilated bodies, or other signs of war or violence discovered. It appears that the Caral people were a peaceful people.