On the coastline of Supe Puerto, where the desert meets the ocean on Peru’s Pacific coast, the oldest civilisation in the Americas continues to reveal the complexity of its worldview. Earlier this month, Peru’s cultural ministry announced the discovery of an architectural structure that was once used for astronomical purposes at the ancient settlement of Áspero.
Áspero forms part of the urban network of the Caral, the oldest known civilisation in the Americas (3000BC-1800BC). This latest discovery adds to previous major findings that have highlighted the site’s social and symbolic complexity.
According to archaeologists at Áspero, astronomy was a vital and practical tool consistent with the tradition of observation that has already been documented in other areas ruled by the Caral. The archaeological site’s director, David Palomino, notes that the structure reveals a direct relationship between knowledge of the sky and maritime activities. By observing the sun, moon and stars, ancient residents were able to anticipate changes in weather, tides and the availability of marine resources—all key factors to successful fishing and shellfish gathering.
The archaeologist Aldemar Crispín says that measuring time played a crucial role in establishing a series of activities around which the population’s everyday life was organised. This linked natural cycles to economic exchange between fishers on the coast and the farming communities of the valley.
A window into the cosmos
A team led by the archaeologist Ruth Shady—who discovered the Caral sites in Peru in 1994—has identified a specialised area used to record celestial phenomena and their interactions with the natural landscape. The location of the two-level stone observatory is hardly accidental. Strategically situated near pyramidal buildings, it offers a panoramic view that includes both the seacoast and the lower basin of the Supe Valley.
Researchers have identified four distinct construction periods, revealing the architectural and functional changes that occurred there over time. Initially, the space is believed to have been used as a public ceremonial building. It was later remodelled to include an oval-shaped platform with a vertical stone (huanca) located at its centre—a symbolic Andean element associated with ritual ceremonies. These characteristics suggest the intensification of ritual activities, possibly related to the observation of the stars.
This latest Caral discovery supports the theory that the Americas’ oldest civilisation was able to sustainably manage its environment, thanks to a deep understanding of its territory and the cosmos, thousands of years before other societies around the globe. A multidisciplinary team is currently evaluating the soil layers and materials recovered at the site to determine a precise timeline using radiocarbon dating.
