Caral monumental city and shicra seismic foundations
Ciudad monumental de Caral y cimientos antisísmicos de shicras
- Date
- c. 2600 BCE · confidence high
- Place
- Caral, Supe Valley, Barranca, Lima, Peru
- Credited to
- Caral-Supe civilisation (Norte Chico)
- Field
- Tools
What it is
An urban centre with pyramids, sunken circular plazas and residential quarters, contemporary with the pyramids of Egypt; its fill uses fibre bags of stones (shicras) that cushion earthquakes. It is the oldest civilisation in the Americas.
Investigated by Ruth Shady since 1994. The anti-seismic effect of the shicras has been proposed by engineers and is plausible, although their main function may have been constructional.
What it led to
- an early Andean state without pottery
- fish-for-cotton exchange between coast and valley
- the Andean architectural tradition of platforms and plazas