The mysterious ancient city of pyramids at Caral in Peru is the oldest one in America. The pyramids are dated to 2, 600 BC and they are as old as the pyramids of Egypt. Many scientists consider this ancient civilization to be “fabled missing link in archeology” (“The Lost Pyramids of Caral”, 1/5).
Archeologists have been searching for the answer for the most debatable question: why did human create civilization? Archeologists have been looking for the so-called “mother city” – the first human civilization for over the centuries. Mesopotamia, Egypt, Peru, China, India and Central America are the areas where the first civilization could be originated. The mother city, the first stage of civilization could have answered a lot of debatable questions. But it is quite difficult to find it because it seemed destroyed or built over. Not having found the mother city, the scientists provide a lot of theories explaining the reason of civilization. Some said the main reason is warfare; other believed it was caused by the development of trade (“The Lost Pyramids of Caral”, 2/5).
Caral, excavated by the archeologist Ruth Shady in the Peruvian desert is believed to be the candidate to the mother city as far as it is a 5,000 years old city of pyramids (“The Lost Pyramids of Caral”, 3/5). It should be noted, that there is no any sign of warfare at Caral. Ruth’s findings suggest that Caral was a gentle city without any weapons, battlements and mutilated bodies. This city was built on commerce and pleasure. Some beautiful flutes made from pelican bones and condor were found in one of the pyramids. More than that, it was found out that people lived at Carol took aphrodisiacs and drugs (“The Lost Pyramids of Caral”, 4/5). The remains of baby buried wrapping in clothes and with a precious necklace made from stone beads was found during Ruth’s excavations. Firstly, it was presupposed that this two months old baby was sacrificed to the deity. The expert examination testified to the fact that that baby dead because of natural causes and it was buried wrapped in the clothes with love. All these facts disprove the theory presupposing that the first civilization was based on warfare. On the contrary, all these findings witness to the fact that people who lived at Caral enjoyed their life and didn’t wage wars on other civilizations (“The Lost Pyramids of Caral”, 5/5).
The version considering the main reason of civilization to be the trade seems to be true as far as Ruth’s findings testify to it. She found out the remains of cotton and fishing nets dated to 5,000 years old. There is no doubt that people lived in Caral were engaged in trade. The farmers did the cotton used in the production of the fishing nets. Perhaps, the trade was the incitement to found the civilization. Caral was the first civilized city with the central government and organized structure. It was proved that the first civilization was born in the time of peace not in the blood and battle (“The Lost Pyramids of Caral”, 5/5).
The excavations are going on and archeologists are still searching for the answer for the main question about the reasons of the first human civilization. Ruth Shady’s findings have made a great contribution to the development of the theory considering the trade to be the reason of human civilization.
Works Cited
- “The Lost Pyramids of Caral”, 1/5, BBC Learning, London, 2009. Television.
- “The Lost Pyramids of Caral”, 2/5, BBC Learning, London, 2009. Television.
- “The Lost Pyramids of Caral”, 3/5, BBC Learning, London, 2009. Television.
- “The Lost Pyramids of Caral”, 4/5, BBC Learning, London, 2009. Television.
- “The Lost Pyramids of Caral”, 5/5, BBC Learning, London, 2009. Television.