{"id":679786,"date":"2025-07-13T14:35:17","date_gmt":"2025-07-13T11:35:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/peruvian-citadel-that-is-nearly-4000-years-old-opens-doors-to-tourists\/"},"modified":"2025-07-13T14:35:17","modified_gmt":"2025-07-13T11:35:17","slug":"peruvian-citadel-that-is-nearly-4000-years-old-opens-doors-to-tourists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/peruvian-citadel-that-is-nearly-4000-years-old-opens-doors-to-tourists\/","title":{"rendered":"Peruvian citadel that is nearly 4,000 years old opens doors to tourists"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n \"The
\n The citadel of Penico, now opened to the public, was built in Peru nearly 4,000 years ago.
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To the music of conch shell trumpets, a 3,800-year-old citadel of the Caral civilization\u2014one of the oldest in the world\u2014opened its doors to visitors in Peru on Saturday, after eight years of study and restoration work.<\/p>\n

The archaeological site, known as Penico, was a meeting point for trade between the first human communities on the Pacific coast and those from the Andes and Amazon regions, researchers have said.<\/p>\n

Located in the Supe valley, some 110 miles (180 kilometers) north of the Peruvian capital Lima and around 12 miles from the Pacific Ocean, Penico was a hilly landscape before exploration work began in 2017.<\/p>\n

Archaeologists believe it could hold insights into why the Caral civilization\u2014which flourished between 3,000 and 1,800 BC\u2014faded.<\/p>\n

At the opening ceremony, artists from the region played pututus\u2014the traditional shell trumpets\u2014during an ancestral ritual offering to the Pachamama, Mother Earth, consisting of agricultural products, coca leaves and local drinks.<\/p>\n

Penico was an “organized urban center devoted to agriculture and trade between the coast, the mountains and the forest,” archaeologist Ruth Shady, who leads research on the site, told AFP.<\/p>\n

The site itself dates back to between 1,800 and 1,500 BC, she added.<\/p>\n

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\n \"Archaeologists
\n Archaeologists have been studying Penico for eight years to try to understand why the Caral civilization vanished.
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It was built on a geological terrace 2,000 feet (600 meters) above sea level, parallel to a river to avoid flooding.<\/p>\n

Research carried out by the Peruvian Ministry of Culture has identified 18 constructions, including buildings and residential complexes.<\/p>\n

Researchers believe that it was built at the same time as the first civilizations in the Middle East and Asia.<\/p>\n

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\n \"The
\n The citadel was a trading center connecting communities on Peru’s Pacific coast with the Andes and the Amazon regions.
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Shady said researchers are hoping the site can shed light on the crisis they think helped hasten the end of the Caral civilization.<\/p>\n

This crisis, she said, was linked to climatic changes that led to droughts and affected agricultural activities in the region.<\/p>\n

“We want to understand how the Caral civilization formed and developed over time, and how it came to be in crisis as a result of climate change,” she added.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCitation<\/strong>:
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPeruvian citadel that is nearly 4,000 years old opens doors to tourists (2025, July 13)
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tretrieved 13 July 2025
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tfrom https:\/\/phys.org\/news<\/a>\/2025-07-peruvian-citadel-years-doors-tourists.html\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/p>\n

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