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By the time the Incas arrived in Peru and Manco Capac founded Cusco about 1200 ACE, humans had been living along the coastline for thousands of years, weaving cotton, and, planting corn, squash, and beans, since before 3,000 BCE. The oldest of the high Andean cultures was the Chavin culture which lasted from around 1200 to 200 BCE. Their capital was Chavin de Huantar, a stone built city in a narrow valley in the central Andes. Other cultures that developed over time included the Paracas, Moche, Nazca, Huari, and Chimu. The Paracas culture (1100 to 200 BCE) was renown for its textile weavings; while the Moche culture (200 BCE to 700 ACE) was a caste orientated society with highly skilled craftsmen. The Nazca culture (400 BCE to 600 ACE) was renown for its mysterious desert plateau drawings. The Huari culture (200 to 600 ACE) was a warrior society whose polychromatic pottery had austerely stylized religious imagery.
The Chimu culture (1000 to
1470 ACE) had irrigated gardens, step pyramids, and ruled over 600 miles of the
Peruvian coastline from their capital at Chan Chan. Peruvian cultural timelines
vary somewhat depending on the archaeologist, historian, chronicler, or scholar.
A relative chronological time line used by archaeologists for the ancient Peruvian cultures is: Initial Period (1,000 to 700 BCE), Early Horizon Period (700 BCE to 1 ACE), Early Intermediate Period (1 to 650 ACE), Middle Horizon Period (650 to 1000 ACE), Late Intermediate Period (1000 to 1450 ACE), and the Late Horizon Period (1450 to 1532 ACE). Since none of the ancient Peruvian cultures kept written records, much of the information obtained about them came from archaeological sites, graves, graphically illustrated ceramics, stylized metalwork, and stone sculptures. Much of the past of ancient Peru remains steeped in conjecture and mystery. There is a lot of data available about the Incas which was compiled by the Spanish who conquered them in 1533 ACE; but, like Roman accounts about the Celts, it was written from the perspective of the vanquisher. One thing we do know about the Incas was that they were great organizers who assimilated and amalgamated the cultural inheritances of the Peruvian peoples they defeated.
The Peruvian Art Cultures
have been placed into the following timeframes: the Preclassic Period from 1200
to 200 BCE which included the Chavin and Paracas; the Classic Period from 200
BCE to 1000 ACE which included the Moche, Nazca, Tiahuanacu and Huari; and the
Post Classic Period from 1000 to 1470 ACE which included the Chimu and the
Inca...Continue on
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Peruvian Ancient Civilization 
