Peñico 1800BCE
You need a guide at Peñico to explain exactly what you’re looking at.
Peru’s Newest Old City
Read my BBC Travel article about Peñico y en BBC Mundo también.
In July 2025, the ancient city of Peñico opened to the public.
Peñico was built around 1800 BCE (about 3800 years ago) by the Caral civilization, though perhaps I should say it was built by the survivors of the Caral civilization. Read on to find out why Caral collapsed and why Peñico was the successor.
Caral was the first civilization in the Americas, the first group of people with a defined culture, including music, religion, long-distance trade networks and social hierarchies. It was also the first big city of the Americas, where about 3,000 people would have lived, plus the populations of outlying villages.
Peñico’s Science Tunnel
The tour begins at the “Science Tunnel” which explains Peñico’s geography, flora, fauna & astronomy to show why it was chosen as the new city’s site. Signs are Spanish only.
The great civilization’s great archeologist
Peruvian archeologist Dr. Ruth Shady began excavating Caral in 1994 and since then has established that the city was inhabited around the same time as the first ancient cities in Mesopotamia, Egypt, India and China. According to some estimates, the oldest Mesopotamian cities were a few hundred years older than Caral, but Egypt’s first big cities were concurrent or even later than Caral’s beginnings.
Peñico’s Circular Plaza
Like Caral, Peñico’s main ceremonies and rituals were conducted in sunken, circular plazas. They were open to the sky, which allowed for astronomical observations.
All these great civilizations were severely impacted by what archeologists call the 4.2 ka event, a global period of climate change, which caused a drought in Peru for about 130 years. Think about that for a minute. Consider what generation in your family was alive in 1900. Now consider a drought that lasted from then until today, and perhaps for another five years. It’s no wonder civilizations collapsed, and cities were abandoned from Mesopotamia to South America. The Dust Bowl that almost caused the US to collapse was nothing compared to the 4.2 ka event.
Yet, the people of Caral survived, even if their great city had to be abandoned.
In 2007, Dr. Shady and her team began excavating Vichama, an archeological site where the Huaura Valley meets the Pacific Coast. Huaura is parallel to the Supe Valley, where Caral was built. Peñico is strategically located where the Huaura and Supe Valleys meet, upriver from the abandoned Caral.
After Vichama was discovered, some archeologists theorized that Caral’s population had moved to the coast, where they could gather fish and shellfish. There may not have been any water to irrigate fields, but there were still fish in the sea.
Peñico’s first excavations in 2017 quickly showed that the city was concurrent with Vichama, proving that not everybody had gone to the coast. Some of Caral’s population had moved up closer to the mountains, where they would have had access to more water.
Peñico has been excavated and in some areas reinforced, but not “restored” or rebuilt like Machu Picchu. Some walls have a new layer of mortar reinforcing the wall, but they’re not newly built walls. You can tell the new mortar from the old because it’s darker, and looks newer than 3800 years old.
As the 4.2 ka event came to a close around 1800, establishing these new cities gave Caral’s survivors a fresh start.
Each set of buildings along the route have panels like this showing what archeologists found there. All signs are only in Spanish - another reason to take a guide with you. Click on the photos above to pop them out.
My guide Jorge Sanchez was part of the excavation team before Peñico opened to the public.
How to visit Peñico?
Peñico is open daily 9am-5pm but the last group entry is at 4pm. The entry fee is s/11 soles (about $3), with discounts for students and seniors.
Local guides are included with the entrance ticket and I highly recommend tipping them. Most speak only Spanish, which is one reason I recommend going with a guided tour or with a guide from Lima.
I recommend spending the night in nearby Huacho or Végueta so you can visit at 9am before the sun gets too harsh. There is no shade at Peñico, and the afternoon is always windy.
The archeological site is located about four hours north of Lima, off the Panamerican Highway. North of the town of Huacho, there is a turn off that goes to Sayán but the roads are poorly marked. Farther north, right before Supe Puerto, is the turn off that goes to Caral. This route has better signs but both routes are dirt roads that go through agricultural areas and don’t always have cell service. Download maps on your phone before you leave the Panamerican.
I have to be honest; this drive is excruciating because driving in or out of Lima is a nightmare most of the time. About two hours of the drive is along the coast and the other two hours are inching along in Lima suburb traffic.
I highly recommend going with a group tour or hiring a guide and driver for a private tour. Besides Lima’s horrendous traffic, the road to Peñico is not well marked and it’s best to go with somebody who has been there before – and who can ask for directions in Spanish if they get lost.
Modern threats
Land in the Supe Valley with irrigation rights is just as fertile now as when Caral was founded 5,000 years ago, putting pressure on Peñico’s perimeters.
Amazilia Hummingbird
The valley may look barren, but anywhere with flowers in Peru will attract hummingbirds! This was my first sighting of an Amazilia.
