The Casma River, which upstream is called Río Grande, is a river that crosses northern

Casma Casma is a city in the coastal desert of Peru, located northwest of Lima. It is the capital of Casma Province and the third most populous city in the Ancash Region with an estimated population of 29,343 (2015). It is located in the lower Casma ...

province in the

Ancash Region Ancash ( qu, Anqash; es, Áncash ) is a department and region in northern Peru. It is bordered by the departments of La Libertad on the north, Huánuco and Pasco on the east, Lima on the south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. Its capital is ...

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = National seal , national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...

. It originates in the Black Mountain Range and drains into the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the conti ...

. Major tributaries include the Sechín River (right). The valley contains the small, once important town of

, which had to be rebuilt after being destroyed by the

1970 Ancash earthquake The 1970 Ancash earthquake (also known as the Great Peruvian earthquake) occurred on 31 May off the coast of Peru in the Pacific Ocean at . Combined with a resultant landslide, it is the most catastrophic natural disaster in the history of Peru ...

. The new town has been completed.

Economy

The main economic activity is

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people ...

. The valley produces fruits: including

avocado The avocado (''Persea americana'') is a medium-sized, evergreen tree in the laurel family ( Lauraceae). It is native to the Americas and was first domesticated by Mesoamerican tribes more than 5,000 years ago. Then as now it was prized for ...

passionfruit ''Passiflora edulis,'' commonly known as passion fruit, is a vine species of passion flower native to southern Brazil through Paraguay and northern Argentina. It is cultivated commercially in tropical and subtropical areas for its sweet, seedy ...

apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus '' Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ancest ...

mango A mango is an edible stone fruit produced by the tropical tree '' Mangifera indica''. It is believed to have originated in the region between northwestern Myanmar, Bangladesh, and northeastern India. ''M. indica'' has been cultivated in Sout ...

es, pacay,

banana A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large herbaceous flowering plants in the genus ''Musa''. In some countries, bananas used for cooking may be called "plantains", disting ...

guayaba Guava () is a common tropical fruit cultivated in many tropical and subtropical regions. The common guava ''Psidium guajava'' (lemon guava, apple guava) is a small tree in the myrtle family (Myrtaceae), native to Mexico, Central America, the C ...

, pepino, and

grapes A grape is a fruit, botanically a berry, of the deciduous woody vines of the flowering plant genus ''Vitis''. Grapes are a non- climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters. The cultivation of grapes began perhaps 8,000 years ago, ...

; and other crops, including

corn Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. The ...

cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus ''Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor perce ...

asparagus Asparagus, or garden asparagus, folk name sparrow grass, scientific name ''Asparagus officinalis'', is a perennial flowering plant species in the genus '' Asparagus''. Its young shoots are used as a spring vegetable. It was once classified in ...

, chilies, and several kinds of beans.

Archaeology

The Casma Valley, a coastal valley situated about north of

Lima Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of t ...

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = National seal , national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...

, lies along the Casma River, between the towns

Chimbote Chimbote ; qu, Chimputi) is the largest city in the Ancash Region of Peru, and the capital of both Santa Province and Chimbote District. The city is located on the coast in Ferrol Bay, 130 km south of Trujillo and north of Lima on the No ...

and

Huarmey ''For the Province of the Ancash Region in Peru, see Huarmey Province'' Huarmey is a coastal town in the Ancash Region, Peru. It is one of the five districts and also the capital of the Province of Huarmey. It is located crossing the Pan-America ...

. It is notable for the grand scale of numerous

archaeological site An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology an ...

s of the Casma/Sechin culture, including stone-faced pyramids and the Thirteen Towers of

Chankillo Chanquillo or Chankillo is an ancient monumental complex in the Peruvian coastal desert, found in the Casma-Sechin basin in the Ancash Department of Peru. The ruins include the hilltop Chankillo fort, the nearby Thirteen Towers solar observato ...

Sechín Alto Sechin Alto is a massive architectural complex in Peru belonging to the Early Formative period (2000-1500 BC). It is located in the Casma Province, the Ancash Region, on the left bank of the Sechín River, east of the town of the same name. Ot ...

is the largest American construction of the second millennium BCE.

Cerro Sechin Cerro is Spanish for "hill" or "mountain". Toponyms ;Bolivia: * Cerro Rico, the "Rich Mountain" containing silver ore near Potosi, Bolivia ;Brazil: * Cerro Branco, a municipality of Rio Grande do Sul * Cerro Grande, Rio Grande do Sul, a munici ...

is also from the Sechin culture.

Huaynuná

(Coordinates ) The coastal pre-ceramic site of Huaynuná (Huaynuma), 13 km north of the Casma Valley, has also been investigated by archaeologists. An early, public religious tradition of architecture is represented there by a large elevated structure built on a hillside. This is a precursor to the much larger Initial Period religious mounds on the coast of Peru. Evidence from Huaynuná, as well as the dates from other Casma Valley sites, indicate that larger-scale irrigation agriculture, use of pottery, and weaving did not appear in the Casma Valley area until about 1600 BC, some 200 years later than similar developments on the central coast of Peru. Also, at Huaynuma, potatoes dating to about 2000 BC have been found. This is one of the earliest such discoveries in South America.

Notes

References

Arqueologia e historia en el valle de Casma

External links