Where history meets science

Another important site is Áspero, on an area of ​​15 hectares at the mouth of the Supe, which comprises at least six plateau hills, the largest of which has a volume of 3,200 m³ and is about 4 m high (13 ft) high and covered an area of ​​40×40 m.

The hills were built of mud bricks and basalt stones and provided with clay and shicra joints. They have U-shaped atriums and several groups of decorated rooms that provide increasingly limited access. The square has two huge platforms: Huaca de los Sacrificios and Huaca de los Idolos and another 15 smaller hills. Other constructions include squares, terraces and large waste areas.

Ceremonial buildings in Áspero, such as the Huaca del Sacrificios and Huaca de los Idolos, represent some of the oldest examples of public architecture in America. The name, Huaca de los Idolos (Huaca of idols), comes from an offering of several human figures (interpreted as idols) from the top of the platform.

About the history

What do the old supe-fishermen have to do with the current communities of Shipibos-Conibos and the Navajo Indians of the American Southwest?

The eyes of god

They are an ancient symbol of present power throughout the Americas. It is called the “Eyes of God”: a textile piece of colored cotton, which forms a concentric diamond and supports two branches in the form of a cross as support. They were found as offerings in ancient tombs of the Aspero archaeological complex associated with Caral.

For the archaeologist Dr. Ruth Shady, who was instrumental in the excavations, shows the “Eyes of God” the interaction that existed between pre-ceramic times between the peoples of the coast, the mountains and the Amazon, and beyond the present boundaries of the Andean world. It is a symbol of power that is still in force in the Shipibo and Cashibo communities, who call basimëti the “Eyes of God.” Also used by the southern Panama Cradle, the Huicholes de la Sierra, the Mexican mother (where they call it “Sikuli”) and the Navajo, whose territory extended over the entire width of today’s US border with Mexico.

The “Eyes of God” found in the pre-ceramic tombs of Áspero are made of dyed cotton and some contain macaw feathers. They were used as hats, banners and as mourning victims.

Just as Caral surprised the world, the finds in Áspero surprise visitors with their solemn stone architecture, the use of shicras (woven sacks) as a monumental base and the lack of evidence of weapons or walls. Apparently, it was not a warlike society and the huge stones were moved more than a kilometer for the construction of the “Huaca de los Ídolos”.

In the period around 2016, there was news from the discovery of the famous wife of the four Tupus, a woman of high social status who was evidently not a ruler. Two human victims were also discovered: a baby in textiles and fishing nets and an adult in a fetal position who was installed as an additional Adobe (airdried brick). Stone on stone. The designs of Áspero were all built with Adobe.