History of Peru

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The history of Peru spans 10 millennia, extending back through several stages of

cultural development along the countries desert coastline and in
the Andes mountains. Peru's coast was home to the Norte Chico civilization, the
oldest civilization in the Americas and one of the six cradles of civilization in the
world. When the Spanish arrived in the sixteenth century, Peru was the homeland of
the highland Inca Empire, the largest and most advanced state in pre-
Columbian America. After the conquest of the Incas, the Spanish Empire established
a Viceroyalty with jurisdiction over most of its South American domains. Peru
declared independence from Spain in 1821, but achieved independence only after
the Battle of Ayacucho three years later.

Contents
  1Pre-Columbian cultures
 2Inca Empire (1438–1532)
 3European colonization of Peru (1532–1572)
 4Viceroyalty of Peru (1542–1824)
 5Wars of independence (1811–1824)
 6Republic of Peru
o 6.1Territorial disputes (1824–1884)
o 6.2Reconstruction, the Aristocratic Republic, and Leguía's 11-year rule (1884–
1930)
o 6.3Alternation between democracy and militarism (1930–1979)
o 6.4Civilian restoration and elections (1979–present day)
 6.4.11980s
 6.4.2Fujimori's presidency and the Fujishock (1990–2000)
 6.4.3Toledo, García, Humala, Kuczynski, Vizcarra and Castillo
presidencies (2001–today)
 7See also
 8Notes
 9References
o 9.1Citations
o 9.2Sources
 10Further reading
o 10.1Conquest
o 10.2Colonial era
o 10.3Post Independence era
o 10.4Economic and labor history
o 10.5Primary sources
o 10.6Historiography
 11External links

Pre-Columbian cultures[edit]
See also: Pre-Columbian Peru and Cultural periods of Peru
Andean civilizations of Peru

Norte Chico Caral pyramids in the arid Supe Valley, some 20 kilometers from the Pacific coast.

Chavin Gold Crown Formative Epoch 1200–300 BCE (Larco Museum Collection, Nazca Lines, created by

the Nazca culture.
The Moche culture is world-renowned for its pottery, in picture a condor from about 300 CE.

Walls of Soloco fortress, Chachapoyas, Peru.

Pikillaqta administrative center, built by the Wari culture in Cusco.

Chimú vessel representing a fisherman on a caballito de totora (1100–1400 CE).

 Tiwanaku and Wari culture at its largest territorial extent, 950 CE.

Hunting tools dating back to more than 11,000 years ago have been found inside the
caves of Pachacamac, Telarmachay, Junin, and Lauricocha.[1] Some of the oldest
civilizations appeared circa 6000 BC in the coastal provinces of Chilca and Paracas,
and in the highland province of Callejón de Huaylas. Over the next three thousand
years, inhabitants switched from nomadic lifestyles to cultivating land, as evidenced
from sites such as Jiskairumoko, Kotosh, and Huaca Prieta. Cultivation of plants
such as corn and cotton (Gossypium barbadense) began, as well as the
domestication of animals such as the wild ancestors of the llama, the alpaca and
the guinea pig, as seen in the 6000 BC dated Camelid relief paintings in the
Mollepunko caves in Callalli. Inhabitants practiced spinning and knitting of cotton and
wool, basketry, and pottery.
As these inhabitants became sedentary, farming allowed them to build settlements.
As a result, new societies emerged along the coast and in the Andean mountains.
The first known city in the Americas was Caral, located in the Supe Valley 200 km
north of Lima. It was built in approximately 2500 BC. [2]
The remnants of this civilization, also known as Norte Chico, consists of
approximately 30 pyramidal structures built up in receding terraces ending in a flat
roof; some of them measuring up to 20 meters in height. Caral is regarded as one of
several cradles of civilization around the world where civilization emerged
independent of other civilizations.[2]
In the early 21st century, archeologists discovered new evidence of ancient pre-
Ceramic complex cultures. In 2005, Tom D. Dillehay and his team announced the
discovery of three irrigation canals that were 5400 years old, and a possible fourth
that was 6700 years old in the Zaña Valley in northern Peru. This was the evidence
of community agricultural improvements that occurred at a much earlier date than
previously believed.[3]
In 2006, Robert Benfer and a research team discovered a 4200-year-
old observatory at Buena Vista, a site in the Andes several kilometers north of
present-day Lima. They believe the observatory was related to the society's reliance
on agriculture and understanding of the seasons. The site includes the oldest three-
dimensional sculptures found thus far in South America. [4] In 2007, the
archaeologist Walter Alva and his team found a 4000-year-old temple with painted
murals at Ventarrón, in the northwest Lambayeque region. The temple contained
ceremonial offerings gained from an exchange with Peruvian jungle societies, as well
as those from the Ecuador a coast.[5] Such finds show sophisticated, monumental
construction requiring large-scale organization of labor, suggesting that hierarchical
complex cultures arose in South America much earlier than scholars had thought.
Many other civilizations developed and were absorbed by the most powerful ones
such
as Kotosh; Chavin; Paracas; Lima; Nasca; Moche; Tiwanaku; Wari; Lambayeque; C
himu and Chincha, among others. The Paracas culture emerged on the southern
coast around 300 BC. They are known for their use of vicuña fibers instead of
just cotton to produce fine textiles—innovations that did not reach the northern coast
of Peru until centuries later. Coastal cultures such as
the Moche and Nazca flourished from about 100 BC to about AD 700: the Moche
produced impressive metalwork, as well as some of the finest pottery seen in the
ancient world, while the Nazca are known for their textiles and the enigmatic Nazca
lines.
These coastal cultures eventually began to decline as a result of recurring el
Niño floods and droughts. In consequence, the Huari and Tiwanaku, who dwelt
inland in the Andes, became the predominant cultures of the region encompassing
much of modern-day Peru and Bolivia. They were succeeded by powerful city-
states such as Chancay, Sipan, and Cajamarca, and two
empires: Chimor and Chachapoyas. These cultures developed relatively advanced
techniques of cultivation, gold and silver craft, pottery, metallurgy, and knitting.
Around 700 BC, they appear to have developed systems of social organization that
were the precursors of the Inca civilization.
In the highlands, both the Tiahuanaco culture, near Lake Titicaca in both Peru
and Bolivia, and the Wari culture, near the present-day city of Ayacucho, developed
large urban settlements and wide-ranging state systems between 500 and 1000 AD.
[6]

As the Incan empire expanded, it defeated and assimilated uncooperative Andean

cultures, like the Chachapoyas culture.
Archaeologists led by Gabriel Prieto revealed the largest mass child sacrifice with
more than 140 children skeleton and 200 Llamas dating to the Chimú culture after he
was informed that some children had found bones in a dune nearby Prieto's
fieldwork in 2011.[7][8]
According to the researchers' notes in the study, there was cut marks on the sterna,
or breastbones some of the children and the llamas. Children's faces were smeared
with a red pigment during the ceremony before their chests had been cut open, most
likely to remove their hearts. Remains showed that these kids came from different
regions and when the children and llamas were sacrificed, the area was drenched
with water.[9]
“We have to remember that the Chimú had a very different world view than
Westerners today. They also had very different concepts about death and the role
each person plays in the cosmos, perhaps the victims went willingly as messengers
to their gods, or perhaps Chimú society believed this was the only way to save more
people from destruction” said anthropologists  Ryan Williams.[10]
In September 2021, archaeologists announced the remains of eight 800-year-old
bodies nearby ancient town of Chilca. Bodies included adults and children who were
covered in plant material before being buried. Some dishes and musical instruments
were uncovered as well. Researchers think remains belong to the Chilca culture,
which was apart from other pre-Hispanic cultures in the area. [11][12][13]