Huaca Prieta is the site of a prehistoric settlement beside the Pacific Ocean in the Chicama Valley , just north of Trujillo, La Libertad Province, Peru. It is a part of the El Brujo Archaeological Complex, which also includes Moche sites. Huaca Prieta was occupied as early as 1,500 BP, long before ceramics were introduced. It constitutes a huge mound of ash, stones, textiles, plants and shells, with some burials and constructions.
Excavations
It was first excavated by Junius B. Bird in 1946–1947 who excavated three large test pits in or beside it. The remains, now at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, include many examples of complex textiles made with twining techniques which incorporated intricate designs of mythological humans, condors, snakes and crabs. The many stone artifacts were not fancy—fish net weights, flakes and simple pebble tools; there were no projectile points. In the upper part of the mound there were many underground structures of unknown function, some with burials. They were made of cobblestones cemented with an ash-water mixture. The inhabitants fished, gathered shellfish, and grew fruit, gourds, squash, peppers, beans, tubers and, importantly, cotton. There is a low mound 70–170 m to the north where Bird excavated three test pits. He found many ruins and much refuse, including ceramics of the Guañape, Early Cupisnique and Cupisnique cultures. The last is linked to the highland Chavín culture. A large tsunami damaged both mounds leaving a thick layer of cobblestones just north of the preceramic mound, at about 850 BCE, between the two Cupisnique phases.
Until recently, it was believed that maize was introduced to the region rather late, after the tsunami. In 2012, it was reported that corncobs found at two ancient sites in Peru may date from as early as 4700 B.C. This suggests that people living along the coast of northern Peru were already eating corn by that time. These results were reported by Dolores Piperno, and other scientists from Washington's National Museum of Natural History This is the earliest maize discovered so far in South America. According to archaeologist Tom D. Dillehay, several varieties of early corn have been discovered here.
"Most notably, Dillehay’s team found the world’s earliest-known collection of corn macroremains, which included all early varieties of the plant—ceremonial popcorn, corn used for chicha beer, flour corn, and corn for foraging animals."
This suggests that Huaca Prieta was an important hub in a large trading network reaching all the way to Mexico, where domesticated corn originated.
Earliest Evidence of Avocado
A team of scientists excavating Huaca Prieta between 2007 and 2013 also discovered evidence of the avocado dating back perhaps 15,000 years. It had been thought previously that the avocado originated in the area of Puebla, Mexico, some 8,000 years ago.
In 2016, 6000-year-old dyed :Cotton|cotton fabric was discovered at the :Andean preceramic|Preceramic site of Huaca Prieta. This marks the earliest recorded use of cotton worldwide. Gossypium barbadense may have been domesticated in the region. Analysis of the pigment used on the cloth identified it as indigotin, an indigoid dye. This marks the earliest recorded use of :Indigo dye|indigo dye to date, predating the use of indigo in Egypt's Fifth Dynasty by about 1,500 years. The end of Huaca Prieta's occupation came gradually. It fell into disuse as the economy changed to being more agriculture-based, and its ceremonial significance diminished. Other nearby mounds supplanted Huaca Prieta in importance, such as Paredones and El Brujo.
