IN THE VALLEY SUPE RESEARCH

Investigations In The Caral Archaeological Area

In 1994, Dr. Ruth Shady and a group of archaeologists initiated investigations with archaeological explorations in the Supe valley, and two years after in Caral.

As a result, they identified a series of archaeological settlements that corresponded to the then called Late Archaic period, currently known as Initial Formative period (3000 – 1800 B.C.). In their publication they included the characterization of the sites’ architecture, as well as their similarities and differences, preliminary interpretations on the settlement patterns and inferences on the social system that produced them (Shady et al. 2000).

At the beginning of the investigation in the sacred city of Caral they had the support of the distinguished researcher Betty Meggers, which led to the economic support of the National Geographic Society.

Moreover, they had the logistic support of the then National Institute of Culture (currently the Ministry of Culture). Archaeological research works continued with the support of the National University of San Marcos. After two months digging in six sectors of the sacred city of Caral, enough tangible evidence was obtained to conclude that it was a built settlement, which was operating before pottery was introduced in the Central Andes, with great architectural complexity and, thus, also social complexity, which had a fundamental role in the origin of the civilization, during the Initial Formative period (Shady 1997a, b).

Considering the research results obtained, in 1997 authorities of the National University of San Marcos assigned the Caral Archaeological Project to the University’s Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, providing institutional support to research, preservation and dissemination activities.

Later, archaeological research was extended to other sites in Chupacigarro in 1999 and Miraya in 2001.

In 2001, the then Minister of Education, Dr. Marcial Rubio visited the Sacred City of Caral, encouraged by his wife, the archaeologist Margarita Giesecke. Shortly after, the President of the Republic, Dr. Valentín Paniagua and all his ministers arrived into -and met- the Sacred City. By recognizing the significance of the results obtained by the archaeological project, and the great potential of this ancient city, the government of Peru declared the investigation, registration, enhancement and preservation of the

Sacred City of Caral -the main settlement of the Caral civilization- is of national interest, by Supreme Decree 040-2001-ED. This statement enabled the government to allocate an annual budget to the Caral-Supe Archaeological Project, through the budget of the National University of San Marcos, for the development of the activities declared to be of national interest.

In 2003, the Special Caral-Supe Archaeological Project was created with the Supreme Decree 003-2003-ED, which became law in 2006 (Law 28690), with full scientific, administrative and financial management autonomy. It was assigned to the National Institute of Culture (currently, Ministry of Culture), where the Executive Unit 003: Zona Arqueológica Caral (ZAC) was created to channel ZAC’s budget and ensure its autonomous implementation.

The creation of the ZAC enabled extending the activities to promote other archaeological sites of the Supe valley that were in danger of disappearing, and applying a comprehensive approach considering the social and economic development of the local population.

In 2004 the ZAC promoted the preparation of the Master Plan for the development of Caral and its area of influence ; it was done through participative workshops with the local population, politicians and academics. The Master Plan aims at articulating the archaeological heritage of Caral civilization with social and economic activities performed by the local population, so that these archaeological sites, after being enhanced, become the cornerstone promoting comprehensive development in the north-central area of the country. Such responsibility shall be assumed within a context of preservation of the natural and cultural landscape and revaluation of intangible culture. The Master Plan, which first stage is fifteen years long, was approved in 2005, and its implementation was commissioned to Zona Arqueológica Caral (ZAC) by Law 28690 in 2006.

In coordination with the District Municipality of Supe Port, the recovery of the monumental archaeological site of Áspero, a fishing town of the Caral civilization -which had been being used as a dumpster by two municipalities for almost thirty years- started in 2005.

That same year, ZAC started investigations in the monumental site of Allpacoto, located in the right bank of the Supe River, in front of the sacred city of Caral.

Upon the request of ZAC, the UNESCO World Heritage Center assessed the exceptional universal values of the Sacred City of Caral, and in 2009 it declared it a World Heritage Site. This distinction has been a contribution to the world recognition of the Peruvian culture, and a direct benefit for Supe district, Barranca province, Lima region and the country.

Two years later, through a strategic partnership between ZAC and the District Municipality of Végueta, we started recovering and enhancing Vichama, agro-fishing town of Végueta, in Huaura valley.

In 2010 ZAC received significant economic support for preservation activities in the Sacred City of Caral, since it was awarded with the US Ambassador Fund for Cultural Preservation.

This year, also, the budget allocated to ZAC by the Peruvian government was transferred from the investment expenditure item to the current expenditure item, thus recognizing the permanent nature of the activities carried out to enhance Caral civilization’s sites. When the Ministry of Culture was created, ZAC remained assigned to this new institution, as Executive Unit 003, with the permanence and autonomy granted by Law 28690 of 2006.

In 2010, the recovery of the Era de Pando settlement started, which then had serious land invasion problems and its archaeological components were being affected. The value enhancement activities were accompanied by legal actions, which ended in the recovery of this significant site of the country’s cultural heritage and its return to the Peruvian government, in 2011. From that date on, social and economic development efforts are being conducted by the strategic partnership between ZAC and San Fernando SA, with the Supe valley residents.

Other archaeological sites of the Caral civilization, which integrity was being affected, and which have been included in ZAC’s value enhancement tasks, through the dialogue and coordination with the representatives of the Supe valley’s populated centers, which are El Molino and Pueblo Nuevo, since 2011, and Piedra Parada, since 2012.

In all archaeological sites intervened by ZAC, investigation works are conducted to recover the social history, of preservation to ensure its permanence and enjoyment by the current and future population, and of dissemination to spread the knowledge to all Peruvians so that it is incorporated in the social dynamics. ZAC conducts these tasks with working teams comprised by professionals, technicians and assistants, in which mainly the trained local population participates. The training is permanently updated, on excavation and registration, preservation and restoration, analysis and identification of archaeological materials, and guidance to visitors.

To strengthen its research activities and management of archaeological heritage, using the autonomy provided by the Law, ZAC has entered into cooperation agreements with several institutions, such as the National Geographic Institute (IGN), the National Engineering University (UNI), the National Institute for Telecommunication Research and Training (INICTEL), the National Geophysics Institute of Peru (IGP), the National Institute of Geology, Mining and Metallurgy (INGEMMET), the Marine Institute of Peru (IMARPE), the National Service of Meteorology and Hydrology (SENAMHI), the Peruvian Institute of Nuclear Energy (IPEN) and the National University of San Marcos (UNMSM), among others. Based on this multi-disciplinary work, we have reached a larger prog- ress in the research on the Caral’s social system and a better understanding of this civilization.

Through the years, with the development of investigations in several sites of the Caral civilization, located in the Supe and Huaura valleys, we achieved a better ap- proach to the knowledge of this civilization’s origins and changes. We know the Caral civilization continued during the Initial Formative period up to the moment when a strong climate change occurred with catastrophic effects on the valley’s agricultural production and on marine productivity. There were strong changes in the societies of the area, which affected the wide occupations of the Initial Formative period in the Sacred City of Caral, and in other settlements. Other minor changes took place, which Early Formative period components have been identified in places such as Miraya, Era de Pan- do, Lurihuasi, Piedra Parada, Allpacoto and Vichama. Notwithstanding, social, cultural, architectonic and stylistic influences of the Caral civilization are strongly identified up to the Intermediate Formative period, and certain elements with symbolic meaning remained throughout the Andean cultural process.