The Sacred City of Caral in Caral civilization

Caral urban center was part of the civilization that originated in the Supe valley, through an organized and hierarchical, and which transcended the whole Andean area. Based on the cultural and time-related information, available to date, it may be inferred that this system progressively influenced the social system of Supe; first, it influenced the populations of immediate valleys, Pativilca, Fortaleza, Huaura and Chancay; then, its influence expanded across the South to the populations of Chillón and Rímac valleys.

The results of the investigations, we are carrying out in the Supe valley, indicate the development of Caral as civilization is older, and that this area became more prestigious. Locally, the Sacred City of Caral, located in the mid-low section of the Supe valley, would have been the most outstanding urban center of this civilization.

From the information that is being recovered in the Sacred City of Caral, as compared to that of other settlements, we infer that Caral society knew the Andean territory and the geographical diversity of localities and regions with different ecological floors; actively participated in the set up of regional and inter-region- al interaction networks to promote access to resources and goods produced in the several areas; built the first planned city of the new world, set the structural organizational foundations of what would be the shared social and political organization in the Central Andes; produced –through specialists- scientific and technological knowledge of a great impact and social significance, which were assumed by other societies and improved with the experience of its implementation over time (such as the case of cotton of several natural colors, the quipu, the geoglyphs, and the seismic-resistant building technologies, etc.).