For archaeology buffs, a chance to begin at the beginning (AP/CNN)

[eppur_se_muova]

By Leslie Josephs
Associated Press

CARAL, Peru (AP) -- ***
We are in Caral, three hours and nearly 5,000 years from contemporary Lima, Peru's bustling capital, and we've spent the last half-hour or so on a bumpy drive from the coast, along a dirt road blocked periodically by bleating herds of goats and sheep.

Caral made headlines in 2001 when researchers carbon-dated material from the city back to 2627 B.C. It is a must-see for archaeology enthusiasts.

Even though the ruins in the dusty, wind-swept Supe River Valley don't approximate in majesty the mountains that surround the famed Inca ruins at Machu Picchu, they are an unforgettable sight under the glow of a fiery sunset.

Dotted with pyramid temples, sunken plazas, housing complexes and an amphitheater, Caral is one of 20 sites attributed to the ancient Caral-Supe culture that run almost linearly from Peru's central coast inland up the Andes.

The ruins changed history when researchers proved that a complex urban center in the Americas thrived as a contemporary to ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt -- 1,500 years earlier than previously believed.


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more: http://www.cnn.com/2006/TRAVEL/DESTINATIONS/10/24/caral.peru.ap/index.html

No 'news' here, just an interesting site.

http://www.caralperu.gob.pe/ requires Flash.

[TAPat]

1. Cool! & Thanks! nt