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Incredible ancient lost city from 3,500-years-ago home to the Americas' oldest civilization uncovered in Peru

Incredible ancient lost city from 3,500-years-ago home to the Americas' oldest civilization uncovered in Peru

The Sun21 hours ago
AN ANCIENT city that is over 3,500 years old has been unearthed in Peru.
The ancient city of Peñico is thought to have been a vital link between early Pacific coast settlements and remote communities deep in the Andes and Amazon.
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Located in the northern Barranca province - around 120 miles north of Lima - the site lies around 1,970 feet above sea level.
It is believed to date back to between 1,800 and 1,500 BC - around the period that early civilisations were flourishing in the Middle East and Asia.
Archaeologists say the discovery sheds light on what became of the Americas' oldest civilisation, the Caral.
Incredible drone footage shows a circular structure on a hillside terrace at the city's centre - surrounded by the remains of stone and mud buildings.
After eight years of research 18 structures were found including ceremonial temples and residential complexes.
Objects were also discovered in buildings at the site including ceremonial objects, clay sculptures of human and animal figures and necklaces made from beads and seashells.
Peñico is located close to where Caral was established 5,000 years ago in the Supe valley of Peru, around 3,000 BC.
Recognised as the oldest known civilisation in the Americas, Caral features 32 monuments.
This includes large pyramid structures, sophisticated irrigation agriculture and urban settlements.
It is believed to have developed in isolation to other comparative early civilisations in India, Egypt, Sumeria and China.
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Dr Ruth Shady, the archaeologist who led the recent research into Peñico and the excavation of Caral in the 1990s, said the discovery is crucial in knowing what happened after the Caral civilisation was decimated by climate change.
She told the Reuters news agency that the Peñico community was "situated in a strategic location for trade, for exchange with societies from the coast, the highlands and the jungle."
Archaeologist Marco Machacuay, a researcher with the Ministry of Culture, unveiled the findings at news conference on Thursday.
He said that Peñico's importance lies in it being a continuation of the Caral society.
Many of the Americas' most significant archaeological discoveries have been found in Peru.
This includes the Inca citadel of Machu Picchu in the Andes and the mysterious Nazca lines etched into the desert in southern Peru.
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Parkinson's: Cough medicine may help slow down cognitive decline

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Parkinson's: Cough medicine may help slow down cognitive decline

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Inside the prehistoric 'fat factory'
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time6 hours ago

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Nessie hunters are telling the truth! Bombshell study says those who spot the monster really are seeing something in the loch
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Nessie spotters are telling the truth and really do see something in the loch, a jaw-dropping new study has revealed. But those who describe a monster with a long body forming hoops above the water may be telling porkies, the paper suggests. Experts made their findings while examining whether Nessie sightings were influenced by popular depictions of the mythical monster. What they discovered was that the stereotypical Nessie – with her body looping above the loch – is only described in a small number of sightings. And that suggests that most witnesses are being truthful, according to Charles Paxton, a statistician at the University of St Andrews, and co-author of the study. Dr Paxton said: 'The wider conclusion is that it would be wrong for people to assume that people are just making up their experiences 'I'm sure there are liars and exaggerators and things like that, but I also think that most people are reporting their own experiences. 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Dr Paxton's co-author, the naturalist Adrian Shine, added: 'Basically serpents undulate laterally – horizontally – as they move through the water. 'And of course they can derive some traction from that, but not if these loops are coming out of the water. 'As a means of progression in water, it's impossible. There's nothing to push against.' Mr Shine, a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and founder of the Loch Ness Project, says he is a 'sympathetic sceptic' when it comes to the monster. But he says the study lends credibility to those who claim to have seen Nessie. He said: 'Since they are not reporting the loops, which are the stereotypical depiction, their testimony is more likely to be true, sincere and well-observed than not.' He added: 'Our findings lend credibility to the witnesses. The burden of the paper is that the witnesses are not being influenced by the popular stereotype.' The mythical creature has captured the attention of people around the world for decades (artist's impression) Yet he remains doubtful that any mythical monster is behind the sightings. The true cause could be a mixture of boat wakes and birds, among other things. Dr Paxton was more circumspect on the Nessie debate. 'I think the Loch Ness Monster exists as a reported phenomenon,' he said. The new study was published in the journal Endeavour. What IS the Loch Ness Monster? Rumours of a strange creature living in the waters of Loch Ness have abounded over the decades, yet scant evidence has been found to back up these claims. One of the first sightings, believed to have fuelled modern Nessie fever, came in May 2, 1933. On this date the Inverness Courier carried a story about a local couple who claim to have seen 'an enormous animal rolling and plunging on the surface'. Another famous claimed sighting is a photograph taken in 1934 by Colonel Robert Kenneth Wilson. It was later exposed as a hoax by one of the participants, Chris Spurling, who, on his deathbed, revealed that the pictures were staged. Other sightings James Gray's picture from 2001 when he and friend Peter Levings were out fishing on the Loch, while namesake Hugh Gray's blurred photo of what appears to be a large sea creature was published in the Daily Express in 1933. The first reported sighting of the monster is said to have been made in AD565 by the Irish missionary St Columba when he came across a giant beast in the River Ness. But no one has ever come up with a satisfactory explanation for the sightings - although in 2019, 'Nessie expert' Steve Feltham, who has spent 24 years watching the Loch, said he thought it was actually a giant Wels Catfish, native to waters near the Baltic and Caspian seas in Europe. An online register lists more than 1,000 total Nessie sightings, created by Mr Campbell, the man behind the Official Loch Ness Monster Fan Club and is available at So what could explain these mysterious sightings? Many Nessie witnesses have mentioned large, crocodile-like scutes sitting atop the spine of the creature, leading some to believe an escaped amphibian may be to blame. Native fish sturgeons can also weigh several hundred pounds and have ridged backs, which make them look almost reptilian. Some believe Nessie is a long-necked plesiosaur - like an elasmosaur - that survived somehow when all the other dinosaurs were wiped out. Others say the sightings are down to Scottish pines dying and flopping into the loch, before quickly becoming water-logged and sinking. While submerged, botanical chemicals start trapping tiny bubbles of air.

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