Lauricocha culture
The Lauricocha culture is a section of the pre-ceramic cultures in the early history of today's Peru , from around 8000 to 2500 BC. Chr.
The entire prehistoric epoch in Peru spans about 15,000 years and goes back to the 14th millennium BC, when the first gathering and hunting peoples left their traces in the mountainous lands of Ayacucho and Ancash . These groups had immigrated across North and Central America for thousands of years and settled in the Andean highlands. Traces of these early peoples have been found in the rock caves of Lauricocha , Pacaicasa and Guitarrero .
The Lauricocha Cave was discovered in 1957 at an altitude of more than 4,000 m , near Lake Lauricocha and the source of the Marañón , one of the three largest tributaries of the Amazon . In the cave the oldest human bones discovered so far in Peru were found, which can be attributed to the time of the last great glaciation about 9500 years ago.
The early ethnic groups of gatherers and hunters in Peru followed the migration of wild animals and the change of seasons and wandered back and forth between the rough plateaus and the warmer coastal regions. The Lauricocha region near Huánuco was one of the most important mountain settlements at that time, which is reflected in the carefully crafted stone arrowheads and cutting knives found there as well as in the cave paintings of wild animals, hunting scenes and dances.
Lauricocha eras
- Lauricocha III: 4200-2500 BC Chr.
- Lauricocha II: 6000-4200 BC Chr.
- Lauricocha I: 8000-6000 BC Chr.