Peru is known to be the cradle of some of the most ancient civilizations in the world, with artifacts found in sites of Northern Peru estimated to be between 8 and 15 thousand years old. Caral, located north of Lima, has been recognized as the most ancient civilization in the Americas, dating back 5,000 years and having developed contemporary to Mesopotamia, India, Egypt and Greece.

Kotosh, Chavín, Nazca, Paracas, Lima, Moche, Lambayeque, Chachapoyas, Chimú and of course the renowned Inca, are only some of the extraordinarily rich cultures having inhabited these lands in the past, with its remains and legacy only partly identified, most being still in the discovery and cleaning process, while many may never be found after having been pillaged by tomb robbers. All of these cultures have shaped today’s Peru throughout the centuries, but it is only with the arrival of colonialism in the XV century and America’s integration into the Western world that we have a written register of Peru’s history, leaving its past to theories, hypotheses and imagination.

With its diverse and wealthy archaeological heritage, including World Heritage sites and the World Wonder of Machupicchu, its intriguing and undocumented past and its still-to-be discovered sites and remains, Peru is one of the world’s havens for history and archaeology lovers. Do not miss the surprising state-of-the-art museums!