The Lost City of Caral

The origins of city life are a mystery. Did civilisation arise out of violence? Or is there a more
peaceful reason why people chose to live in large communities?

Today's modern city is a symbol of human civilisation. But the origins of cities have long been a
mystery to scientists. For more than a hundred thousand years, human beings either wandered
the world in small family groups, or lived in tiny villages. And then, suddenly, all this changed.
All over the world, in Egypt, Mesopotamia, China, India, Central America and Peru, people
started to build cities.

What made people give up the simple life for the city? One theory was that it was something
terrifying - warfare. This forced groups of villages to huddle together for their own protection.
And those who organised their citizens to protect and defend themselves in this way emerged
as powerful leaders - pharaohs and kings. It seemed that city life was born out of fear.

But to prove this theory, archaeologists needed to find a "mother city", the very first big city to
appear in the world. After years of searching, they discovered an enormous pyramid in the
Casma Valley, in the Peruvian desert. It had the remains of a huge city around it. Excavations
revealed simple pottery and crude art, suggesting that the city was very old indeed.When
carbon dating showed that it was built in 1500 BC, archaeologists thought that they had indeed
found their "mother city". And as they continued to excavate, they discovered carvings of
warrior figures with their victims, who had clearly died very violently. It looked as if war really
had been the force that gave birth to civilisation.

But then an archaeologist called Dr Ruth Shady from the University of San MArcos in Lima
heard of some mysterious unexplained mounds further out in the desert. She set off alone to
find them and found the remains of six pyramids arranged around a central plaza. "I was totally
overwhelmed by the discovery," she said. "This place is somewhere between the seat of the
gods and the home of man." It was the lost city of Caral.

Ruth went back with a team of archaeologists. They looked for pottery but found none. They
looked for metal tools, but the only ones they found were made of stone. Caral seemed to be
much older than they's expected. They dug down inside the pyramids. Gradually, as their
excavations continued, they uncovered paint not seen for thousands of years, and a series of
staircases. Eventually, they found plant remains which they were able to get carbon dated. The
results showed that Caral was built in the 2600 BC. They had found the true "mother city".

But why had the city of Caral been built? They could not find any evidence of warfare. There
were no weapons. or carvings of warriors. Instead, Ruth and her team found decorated musical
instrument, fragments of a fruit used as body paint, and necklaces made from shells. These
objects showed that this was a society where people knew how to have fun. But such things
did not occur naturally in that region - so how did they get there?

The mystery deepend. They found piles of bones from sardines and anchovies which could only
have come from the coast.Goods seemed to have been coming into Caral from all over Peru.
And Ruth also realised that around the city there must once have been rivers watering fields
used for cultivation. They found cotton seeds near the city, and they discovered a cotton fishing
net on the coast dating from the same time. So, Ruth concluded, the people of Caral must have
made nets for the fishermen on the coast, who sent fish as payment. More food meant more
people could live at Caral and thus it became a booming trading centre.

So the driving force that led to the birth of civilisation five thousand years ago was not warfare.
Instead, this city of pyramids was built on riches gained through trade.And this peaceful
existence continued for almost a thousand years, an achievement unmatched in the modern
world. Perhaps that is Caral's true legacy. Human civilisation was not born in bloodshed and
battle. Great things can come from peace.