Guitarrero Cave
Cueva del Guitarrero · Guitarrero Cave (Callejón de Huaylas)
Lithic – Preceramic (c.12000–8000 BCE earliest; 8600 BCE cultigens)·Andean Lithic / Guitarrero tradition·🇵🇪 Ancash, Yungay Province, Callejón de Huaylas, Peru
About
About Guitarrero Cave
Guitarrero Cave is a shallow limestone rockshelter on the west flank of the Cordillera Blanca above the Santa River at 2,580 m near Yungay, Ancash. Excavated by Thomas Lynch (1969–1975), its 1.5m stratified deposit spans Complex I (c.12000–8000 BCE) through Guitarrero II–IV with the continent's earliest cultigens: carbonized Phaseolus vulgaris (common bean) 8600 BCE, chile 8600 BCE, Oxalis and early textile twined fibers, plus high-altitude camelid and deer remains. The shelter's wall carries red geometric paintings and willows. As the type-site for high-Andean domestication before the Neolithic, it anchors Andean agriculture to the early Holocene.
Why it mattersGuitarrero Cave is a shallow limestone rockshelter on the west flank of the Cordillera Blanca above the Santa River at 2,580 m near Yungay, Ancash. Excavated by Thomas Lynch (1969–1975), its 1.5m stratified deposit spans Complex I (c.12000–8000 BCE) through Guitarrero II–IV with the continent's earl Type-site defining regional sequence.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Chronology and phasing of construction
- 02Function of elite vs communal architecture
Theories
- 01Regional capital coordinating irrigation and exchange
- 02Ritual-ceremonial amphitheatre aligned to astronomy
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- Occupation from c.12000 BCE (Complex I)
- Period
- Lithic – Preceramic (c.12000–8000 BCE earliest; 8600 BCE cultigens)
- Culture
- Andean Lithic / Guitarrero tradition
- Builders
- Early hunter-gatherers (Guitarrero tradition)
- Purpose
- Seasonal rockshelter with earliest evidence of domesticated common bean, chile, and Andean cultigens, plus rock paintings
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
Occupation from c.12000 BCE (Complex I)
Initial construction
c.800–900 CE
Major occupation / refurbishment
c.1000–1532
Late horizon / Inca incorporation where applicable
On the ground
Structures & features
9.2040° S · 77.4720° W · 2580 m · 2 mapped features
Painted Shelter Mouth and North Panel
rock art15m shelter mouth with red geometric rock paintings and Lynche excavation grids
9.2039° S · 77.4719° WStratified Interior Deposit (Complex I–IV)
cave1.5m cultural deposit with bean/chile cultigen levels and lithic scatters
9.2041° S · 77.4721° W
Gallery