The Pikimachay caves are located in the Pacaycasa district, in the province of Huamanga, within the department and region of Ayacucho. These caves are located at 2,850 meters above sea level, are approximately 20,000 years old and would have been, at the time, the homes of one of the oldest groups of men in South America and the most archaic in the world. Peru. The Pikimachay Caves were discovered by the American archaeologist Richard Mac Neish in 1969 and would belong, along with other caves, to the “Pacaicasa Cultural Complex”. These caves are, at a morphological level, structures that can be observed from a distance as a kind of open eye at the base of a high calcareous rock, and with a yellowish hue of volcanic origin.
The Piquimachay Caves would have served these first men as a temporary dwelling, as well as a deposit, along with what could be called their sanctuary. In these caves, during the investigations and excavations carried out, what has been called: the oldest tools made and used by man from the Andes; In the same way, it is significant to mention that, at the site, according to Mac Neish's studies, remains have also been found that could give indications that these settlers were the first domesticators of guinea pigs and camelids in the area - with remains from ancient times. 5000 years before our era -, along with the first corn gardeners.
Among the tools found in Pikimachay we can see: crushers, skinners based on animal ribs, scrapers, punches, among others. It is important to mention that no human remains of the inhabitant of Pikimachay were found during the expeditions; the dating of the caves corresponds to the instruments found in them. Although it is worth mentioning that what would be the jaw of a child was found, still with the teeth in it.
Along with the artisanal remains (tools) and plants that were found in Pikimachay, the presence of different animal remains is notable, among which we can distinguish bone remains of sloth bears - dating back 14,000 years -, along with with evidence of the presence of mastodons and saber-toothed tigers. Remains of horses have also been found at the site, which would suggest that they bred in the area and existed before the Hispanic invasion, but that they would have become extinct by then.
Whoever wants to visit the Pikimachay Caves - or Piquimachay - must travel a period of thirty minutes from the City of Huamanga to Pacaycasa. Entry to the place is free and there are no established visiting hours.
Pickimachay: The first settlers
In the collection of lithic material of the MNAAHP, a set of stone-carved artifacts was identified, contextualized and preliminarily analyzed, which were made by the first men and women who inhabited Peru. These evidences were excavated in 1970, by Richard MacNeish and his team in the Pikimachay Cave (department of Ayacucho). They were found associated with bone remains of Scelidotherium (giant sloth) and their radiocarbon dating showed an age between 22,450 - 14,700 RCYBP (MacNeish 1979).
In the 1980s, scientists experts in Prehistory determined that the evidence did not present human modification, and that they were simple rocks that fell from the ceiling of the cave, fracturing between them when they fell to the floor. This hypothesis was not refuted by Mac Neish, with an appropriate publication of the artifacts.
In order to clarify whether the material presents human carving or not, we preliminarily analyzed a significant sample of the lithic material excavated by MacNeish. The preliminary analysis by operational chains (techno-typological and determination of raw materials) allowed us to conclude the following:
The earliest evidence was found in the oldest strata of the cave, corresponding to the Final Pleistocene. MacNeish divided these strata into two complexes:
The Paccaicasa Complex: It includes the oldest strata of the cave, however it was determined that the fractures in these rocks are natural, no human carving was observed. The petrographic analysis reported that the raw materials of the rocks of this complex are not suitable for carving.
The Ayacucho Complex is the second oldest complex of strata and, on the contrary, contains artifacts made from flakes, in which the human carving sequence is observed. These artifacts have modified edges that appear active for some purpose (possible cutting of meat or vegetables). The trend of bifacial carving seems clear, and the selection of silicified rocks in which these artifacts were carved reflects the intention of searching and knowing how to select good raw material. Another artifact was made from a pebble (boulder), so it follows that they also obtained rocks from the river bed (possibly from the one in front of the cave). Finally, if the cave was formed during Neogene volcanic activity and a scraper (artifact) was found carved in a Triassic limestone rock (geological formation prior to that of the cave), it can be inferred that this human group introduced to the cave external raw materials. The lithic evidence from the Paccaicasa Complex is discarded and validity is given to that of the Ayacucho Complex, which dates back to 15,000 BC. c.
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