The first
Peruvians were descendants of the nomadic tribes
which had crossed into the Americas during the
last Ice Age (40,000-15,000 BC), when a
combination of ice packs and low sea levels
exposed a neck of solid "land" to span what's
now the Bering Strait. Following herds of game
animals from Siberia into what must have been a
relative paradise of fertile coast, wild forest,
mountain and savannah, successive generations
continued south through Central America. Some
made their way down along the Andes, into the
Amazon, and out onto the more fertile areas of
the Peruvian and Ecuadorian coast, while others
found their niches en route.
In a number of tribes there seem to be cultural
memories of these long migrations, encapsulated
in their traditional mythologies - though these
aren't really transcribable into written
histories. There is, however, archeological
evidence of human occupation in Peru dating back
to around 15,000-20,000 BC, concentrated in the
Ayacucho Valley , where these early Peruvians
lived in caves or out in the open. Around 12,000
BC, slightly to the north in the Chillon Valley
(just above modern Lima), comes the first
evidence of significant craft skills - stone
blades and knives for hunting. At this time
there were probably similar groups of hunter
tribes in the mountains and jungle too, but the
climatic conditions of these zones make it
unlikely that any significant remains will ever
be found.
The difficulties of traversing the rugged
terrain between the highlands and coast
evidently proved little problem for the early
Peruvians. From 8000 to 2000 BC, migratory bands
of hunters and gatherers alternated between
camps in the lowlands during the harsh mountain
winters and highland summer "resorts", their
actual movements well synchronized with those of
wild animal herds. One important mountain
encampment from this Incipient Era has been
discovered at Lauricocha , near Huanuco, at an
altitude of over 4000m. Here the art of working
stone - eventually producing very fine blades
and arrow points - seems to have been
sophisticated, while at the same time a growing
cultural imagination found expression in cave
paintings depicting animals, hunting scenes and
even dances. Down on the coast at this time
other groups were living on the greener lomas
belts of the desert in places like Chilca to the
south, and in the mangrove swamps around Tumbes
to the north.
An awareness of the potential uses of plants
began to emerge around 5000 BC with the
cultivation of seeds and tubers (the potato
being one of the most important "discoveries"
later taken to Europe); to be followed over the
next two millennia by the introduction,
presumably from the Amazon, of gourds, Lima
beans, then squashes, peanuts, and eventually
cotton. Towards the end of this period a
climatic shift turned the coast into a much more
arid belt and forced those living there to try
their hand at agriculture in the fertile river
beds, a process to some extent paralleled in the
mountains.
With a stable agricultural base, permanent
settlements sprang up all along the coast,
notably at Chicama , Asia and Paracas , and in
the sierra at Kotosh . The population began to
mushroom, and with it came a new consciousness,
perhaps influenced by cultural developments
within the Amazon Basin to the east: cultism -
the burial of the dead in mummy form, the
capturing of trophy heads, and the building of
grand religious structures - made its first
appearance. At the same time there were also
overwhelming technological advances in the
spheres of weaving, tool-making and ornamental
design.
The Chavín Cult
From around 1200 BC to 200 AD - the Formative
Era - agriculture and village life became
established. Ceramics were invented, and a slow
disintegration of regional isolation began. This
last factor was due mainly to the widespread
dispersal of...
read more >>
The Classical Era
A diverse period - and one marked by intense
development in almost every field - the
Classical Era (200-1100 AD) saw the emergence of
numerous distinct cultures, both on the coast
and in the sierra. The best documented, though
not...
read more >>
The Incas
With the Inca Empire (1200-1532) came the
culmination of the city-building phase and the
beginnings of a kind of Peruvian unity, with the
Incas, although originally no more than a tribe
of around forty thousand, gradually taking over
each of...
read more >>
The Spanish Conquest
Francisco Pizarro , along with two dozen
soldiers, stumbled upon and named the Pacific
Ocean in 1513 while on an exploratory expedition
in Panama. From that moment his determination,
fired by native tales of a fabulously rich land
to the south, was...
read more >>
Colonial Peru
Queen Isabella of Spain indirectly laid the
original foundations for the political
administration of Peru in 1503 when she
authorized the initiation of an encomienda
system , which meant that successful Spanish
conquerors could extract tribute...
read more >>
Rebellion
When the Hapsburg monarchy gave way to the
Bourbon kings in Spain at the beginning of the
eighteenth century, shivers of protest seemed to
reverberate deep in the Peruvian hinterland.
There were a number of serious native rebellions
against...
read more >>
The republic
San Martín immediately assumed political control
of the fledgling nation. Under the title
Protector of Peru he set about devising a
workable constitution for the new nation - at
one point even considering importing European
royalty to...
read more >>
The War of the Pacific
By the late nineteenth century Peru's foreign
debt, particularly to England, had grown
enormously. Even though interest could be paid
in guano, there simply wasn't enough. To make
matters considerably worse, Peru went to war
with Chile in 1879. ...
read more >>
The twentieth century
Modern Peru is generally considered to have been
born in 1895 with the forced resignation of
General Caceres. However, the seeds of
industrial development had been laid under his
rule, albeit by foreigners. In 1890 an
international plan was...
read more >>
Land reform and the military regime
By now, many intellectuals and government
officials saw the agrarian situation as an
urgent economic problem as well as a matter of
social justice. Even the army believed that land
reform was a prerequisite for the development of
a larger...
read more >>
The 1970s and 1980s
After twelve years of military government the
1980 elections resulted in a centre-right
alliance between Acción Popular and the Popular
Christian Party. Belaunde resumed the presidency
having become an established celebrity during
his years of...
read more >>
The 1990s
Elections in 1990 proved to be a turning point
for Peru. In the run-up to them there were four
main candidates: the popular and internationally
renowned author Mario Vargas Llosa, with his new
right-wing coalition, Fredemo; Luís Alvacastro,
general...
read more >>
The elections of 2000
The run-up to the elections of April 9, 2000,
was marked by Fujimori's controversial decision
to stand for a third term of office, despite the
Peruvian Constitution only allowing for two
continuous terms. His rationale was that since
the...
read more >>
Cultural chronology of Peru
20,000-10,000 BC First evidence of human
settlement in Peru. Cave dwellings in the
Ayacucho Valley; stone artefacts in the Chillon
Valley. 8000-5000 BC Nomadic tribes , and more
permanent...
read more >>
Peruvian political updates
For regular news on Peruvian politics and other
matters, subscribe to the Peru Support Group ,
37-39 Great Guildford Street, London SE1 OES, UK
(tel 020/7620-1103, fax 7261-9291, perusupport@
gn.apc.org). Established in...
read more >>
|
|
| peru,
cusco, machupicchu, inca, trail, choquequirao, top
tours, vacation, guide, backpacker, travel, budget,
tours, travel, backpacker, cusco, machupicchu, inca
trail, lake titicaca, arequipa, colca canyon,
cotahuasi canyon, nazca lines, reserve, paracas,
manu, tambopata, candamo, choquequirao, ica, pisco,
lima, pachacamac, huaraz, manu |
|
