History of Peru

The history of Peru spans 15 millennia, extending back through several stages of cultural development along the country's desert coastline and in the Andes mountains. Peru's coast was home to the Norte Chico civilization, the oldest civilization in the Americas and one of the six cradles of civilization in the world. When the Spanish arrived in the sixteenth century, the highlands of southern Peru were the center of the Inca Empire, the largest and most advanced state in pre-Columbian America. After the conquest of the Incas, the Spanish Empire established a Viceroyalty with jurisdiction over most of its South American domains. Peru declared independence from Spain in 1821, but achieved independence only after the Battle of Ayacucho three years later.

Modern historiography of Peru divides its history into three main periods:

A pre-Hispanic period, which lasts from the first civilizations of the region to the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire.

A viceregal or colonial period, which lasts from the aforementioned conquest to the Peruvian declaration of independence.

A republican period, which lasts from the war of independence to the current day.

Pre-Hispanic era

Pre-Columbian cultures

Hunting tools dating back to more than 11,000 years ago have been found inside the caves of Pachacamac, Telarmachay, Junin, and Lauricocha. Some of the oldest civilizations appeared circa 6000 BC in the coastal provinces of Chilca and Paracas, and in the highland province of Callejón de Huaylas.