Peru:
From Ancient Cultures to the Colonial Period
Left: A Moche "Moon Animal" mural (detail) at Huaca Cao Viejo. Right: Print depicting Christ washing the disciples feet from a manuscript page found at the site.
Map of South America today with the country of Peru outlined in red.
Peruvian prehistory is divided into Horizons, when many people throughout the land shared common practices, and Periods when more regional cultures were common. These developments took place in the Andean landscape: a dry coastal desert cut through by fertile river valleys, the Andes mountains, and the tropical forest on the eastern slopes of the Andes.
In the Paleo-Indian Period, at the end of the last ice age, humans first occupied Peru. In the Preceramic Period people began “settling in” to different environments, such as the great fishing tradition that grew to take advantage of the rich maritime resources of the Humboldt Current. In the Initial Period great ceremonial centers which first appeared in the Preceramic, grew in number and diversity. In the Early Horizon, the great highland center of Chavin appears to have spread its cult over much of Peru. The Moche of the north coast and the Nasca of the South Coast are well known cultures of the Early Intermediate Period. In the Midddle Horizon, the great centers of Huari, Peru, and Tiwanaku, Bolivia, influenced many areas. When these influences waned, regional cultures again dominated, such as the Lambayeque and Chimu, in the Late Intermediate Period. Many of these were conquered by the Inca, in the Late Horizon, who briefly reigned over an empire from Ecuador to central Chile and northwestern Argentina, before the Spanish arrived in 1532.
Map of Peru's northern coast, showing river valleys and major Moche sites. Both the Chicama River Valley and the Cao and Brujo site are underlined, which is where Magdalena de Cao Viejo is located.
Francisco Pizarro landed in northern Peru late in 1532. Because the Inca Empire had been in the midst of a civil war, the Spaniards were able to play different factions against others, including amassing many native allies. In 1533 the Inca capital, Cuzco, in the southern highlands, was taken in a battle by the Spaniards and their allies. The conquest was hardly over, however. The Inca continued to resist from strongholds in the country, such as Ollantaytambo, and the Spanish fell into disputes among themselves. It was not until governmental reforms carried out in the late 1560s and under Viceroy Francisco Toledo, in the mid-1570s that some stability was established in Peru. Even so, rebellions and resistance continued in various places in the sixteenth century and later.