Interpretation in relation to the Caral Civilization

Although the Allpacoto urban center had its own internal socio-political dynamics, in the Late stage of the Initial Formative Period, it would have been integrated into a larger social system in the Supe Valley, which had the central State at the core of its organization, based on the Sacred City of Caral.

During the crisis at the beginning of the Early Formative period, Allpacoto continued to be inhabited and, by the middle of that period, it became one of the most important urban centers of the Supe Valley.

Location

Pueblo Nuevo (New Town) archaeological settlement can be accessed taking the exit at Km 184 of the North PanAmerican highway, and then continuing for seventeen kilometers towards Ámbar, until the site is reached.

PUEBLO NUEVO URBAN CENTER LOCATION MAP Polygonal Occupation Site

Current Population Center Paved road Supe River

Political location:

Department: Lima

Province: Barranca / District: Supe

Geographic location:

Area: 18S

Reference system: WGS84

UTM coordinates:

225 036.20 E / 8 796 172.41N

Average altitude: 340 m. a. s. l.

Urban center area: 23.49 ha

Geographic Aspects

The settlement is located on the right bank of the Supe River, on alluvial terraces and hillsides of the Colorado and San Antonio mountains.

From this settlement there is easy access to the resources of the hills during the winter months; to the riverside forest; to springs; to the farmland in the valley; and to riverbeds connecting to the Tayta Laynes gully in the Pativilca valley.

The location of the public buildings helped the visibility of the settlements on the left bank of the valley.

Background

The site was registered by Carlos Williams and Manuel Merino in the second half of 1970s. In 1984 Zechenter digged the site to obtain samples, conduct radiocarbon dating (1894 -1291 cal B.C.) and identify inhabitants’ livelihoods. The archaeological exploration conducted by Dr. Ruth Shady and her team of archaeologists, between 1994 and 1995, included the Pueblo Nuevo Urban Center (Shady et al., 2000: 13-48).

Zona Arqueológica Caral started the research on this site in 2011, with the purpose of understanding its relationship with the social system of the Caral Civilization and protecting this settlement before the expansion of the population, of this name, settled on the vicinity.

Pueblo Nuevo Archaeological Site

The Pueblo Nuevo archaeological site was declared National Cultural Heritage by National Director’s Resolution 720/INC dated August 1, 2002.

Due to the organized layout of the buildings, it is suggested that the design and urban layout were previously established. Most of the buildings are located in the core area: sectors B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I and J. So far the buildings of sectors F, H and B have been excavated.

The Sector F building, located in the northwestern side of the settlement, is a Major Public Pyramidal Building with Sunken Circular Plaza, with a façade facing southwest. A central staircase connects the circular square with the top areas. Stairs have been identified on the east and west sides of the main facade.

The Sector H building, on the northwestern side of the archaeological site, is a Major Public Pyramid Building with a Sunken Circular Plaza, facing southeast. Two periods have been identified, an old one with a sunken circular plaza and another one without it. The building was built on a natural embankment, adapted to achieve greater monumentality and visibility that corresponded to the hierarchy of its leaders.

Sector B is located on the southwestern side of the settlement; comprised by three buildings: B1, B2Minor Public Buildings- and B3, a possible residential sub-complex.

In the Peripheral Area, southeast of the settlement, sector A consists of six buildings (A1, A2 A3, A4, A5 and A6). A1 is a public pyramidal building without a plaza, with a central staircase; A2 is a Minor Public Pyramidal Building; and A3 is a residence on a natural embankment.

The other buildings in this sector of the city have not yet been researched.

We saw differences in this settlement in terms of management of the built space. There are places where they settled clusters of buildings apparently in a disorganized way, even without considering the alluvial channels; a sunken circular plaza has been found, which was covered by a flood. There should have been an accelerated growth of the settlement in a certain period of the Caral Civilization, possibly around 2400 years BC, as a result of intense socioeconomic dynamics generated in the Capital Area, where the Sacred City of Caral is also located.