The Andean preceramic refers to the early period of human occupation in the Andean area of South America that preceded the introduction of ceramics. This period is also called pre-ceramic or aceramic.
The Pyramids of Caral
Caral ceremonial plaza
A view of Caral
A pyramid at El Paraiso
Caral–Supe was a complex Pre-Columbian era society that included as many as thirty major population centers in what is now the Caral region of north-central coastal Peru. The civilization flourished between the fourth and second millennia BC, with the formation of the first city generally dated to around 3500 BC, at Huaricanga, in the Fortaleza area. From 3100 BC onward that large-scale human settlement and communal construction become clearly apparent, which lasted until a period of decline around 1800 BC. Since the early 21st century, it has been recognized as the oldest-known civilization in the Americas, and as one of the six sites where civilization separately originated in the ancient world.
Reconstruction of one of the pyramids of Aspero
Remains of platform mound structures at Caral
Caral panorama
The people from the Caral–Supe civilization used vertebrae of the blue whale as stools