UNIVERSIDAD PRIVADA SAN

JUAN BAUTISTA
GENERAL STUDIES
PROFESSIONAL SCHOOL OF MEDICINE

FORMATIVE RESEARCH PROJECT

Paper Topic: Description of an ancient Peruvian
civilization
PARACAS CULTURE

MEMBERS
CAMERO ORTIZ, ELIAN
CANCHO VILLANUEVA, FIORELLA
CARRILLO VALVERDE, STHEPANIE
CHAVEZ RIVERA, KAREN LORENA
LAY GARCIA, SUAM HILARY
LEVANO SALAZAR, JAZMIN EYMMY
MANCO MENDOZA, AXEL YAMIL
ROSALES CHULLE, FLAVIO STICK

Chorrillos– Perú
2019-II
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PARACAS CULTURE
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DEDICATION

We dedicate this project

especially to my family, who

support us unconditionally to

continue my studies at the

professional school of human

medicine at the Private University

San Juan Bautista

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
First we want to thank God for guiding our steps; to teacher for all her

dedication and information provided in the advice of formative research.

The authors.
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ABSTRACT

The Paracas culture was an important pre-Columbian civilization of ancient Peru

from the First Horizon period that was located in the Paracas peninsula, Pisco
Province, Ica Region. It was developed between 700 years BC to 200 years AD,
this culture is contemporary to the Chavin culture that developed in northern Peru.
Most information about the Paracas comes from the archaeological excavations
undertaken in the Paracas necropolis by Peruvian archaeologist Julio Tello and his
disciple Toribio Mejia Xesspe in the 1920s.

Experts discuss an affiliation with the culture of Chavín, one of the oldest in Peru,
but the origin of the Paracas culture is still a mystery, even for archaeologists. It is
also said that it was a culture of “cushioning” between the culture of Chavín and
the culture of Tiahuanaco.

PARACAS Also known as a "miracle in the desert" because of the lack of water
was a "bridge culture" between the Chavinoid and Tiahuanaco. The word Paracas,
Quechua word that names the hurricane winds that carry sand.
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CHAPTER I
DESCRIBE ITS ORIGINS

DESCRIPTION OF THE ORIGIN OF THIS ANCIENT CIVILIZATION

It was a derivation of the Chavín civilization, which then traced its own
physiognomy, it was the Paracas culture. This culture was the result of a
fusion of local tradition, fishing villages, with the most sophisticated
technologies and ideological forms "chavinoides". It emerged at the end of
the First Horizon and prolonged its existence until the early period of the
Early Intermediate.
Paracas Culture was an important society in the history of Peru. The
information that known for its textile art, its mummies and for cranial
trepanation to be able to cure fractures and tumors in the skull.They arose
approximately approximately between 700 B.C. and 200 A.D., with
extensive knowledge of irrigation and water management. The big part of
our information about the life of the inhabitants of the Paracas culture comes
from excavations in the Paracas necropolis. First investigated by the
Peruvian archaeologist Julio C. Tello in the 1920s. The Wari Kayan
necropolis consisted of in a multitude of large underground burial chambers,
with an average capacity of about forty mummies. It is suggested that each
large chamber could have been owned by a specific family or clan, which
they use for many generations. Each mummy was tied with cable to hold it
in place, and then wrapped in many layers of intricate textiles, ornaments,
and tissue. These textiles are now known as some of the best ever produced
by pre-Columbian Andean societies, and are the main works of art by which
the Paracas culture is known.Characteristic of this period is the pottery
production, often adorned with felinesque motifs, especially jaguars.
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GEOGRAPHICAL LOCALIZATION

It was developed in the Paracas peninsula, located in what is now the

Paracas district of the province of Pisco, in the Ica Region, located 18 km
from the city of Pisco. Its main centers were in the bay of Paracas and its
influence reached Chincha, Pisco, Ica, Palpa and Río Grande. In its moment
of greatest expansion, it extended from the north to Chincha and from the
south to Llauca in the Arequipa region.

On the other hand, the Paracas Culture is divided into two periods, of which
Paracas Caverns had as its main center or capital the Peña of Tahajuana,
on the banks of the Ica River, while in Paracas Necropolis its main
development settlement was between the river Pisco, the Topara gorge
(main center) and the Paracas peninsula. Anexo 1

THE DURATION OF THIS CULTURE OVERTIME

Paracas Culture Periods

In the Paracas culture, according to the eminent archaeologist Julio C. Tello,
two successive cultures or phases are distinguished, taking into account the
way they buried their dead: Paracas-caverns and Paracas-necropolis.

Paracas Caverns
The tombs of this culture were found on Cerro Colorado, located 18
kilometers south of Pisco. The caverns are located under the sand, two
meters deep; They are shaped like an inverted cup. There were mummies
wrapped with bales, made with fabrics that were surrounded by offerings
consisting of food: corn, cassava, beans, pallares, etc. The population must
have been farmers, warrior, religious and cheerful.

They built the fortified population of Tajahuana, on a stony plateau that rises
200 meters above the crop level. In the same way, they built their houses
on the slopes of the hills.

At first they worshiped an eye being, a character without a body, with only
eyes and mouth. Later, this being acquired the form of a fearsome character
who carried a knife and a trophy head in his hands.
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Finally, the cheerful character of the population manifests itself with the
presence of musical instruments, such as drums, trumpets, antaras.

Paracas necropolis
This cultural phase is symbolized by a large rectangular cemetery. There
the settlers buried the members and the dominant caste. For this purpose,
these were returned in finely embroidered fabrics, along with food and
ornaments of gold and ceramic pieces. The walls of its tombs are built of
small stones joined with calcareous mud, which when hardened is similar to
cement; The roofs of Huarango sticks.

To bury the bodies, they were previously mummified according to the

following procedure:

 His intestines and viscera were removed from the corpse by opening
longitudinally.
 Then they extracted the heart by cutting the thorax.
 They cut the head by the base of the skull to empty the brain mass,
although there are mummies with the dry brain mass.
 Cotton plugs were placed in the eye socket.
 They removed the muscles through incisions in the upper and lower
extremities.
 Finally, he mummified by introducing lime, ground chili pepper,
ground salt, powdered muña flower, pitch and other ingredients into
the body.
 They were squatting the mummy.
 They put the body on a low heat in order to reduce its size.
 Finally it was placed in a reed basket to finally wrap it with different
quality fabrics.
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CHAPTER II
DESCRIBE ITS SOCIAL, ECONOMIC AND RELIGIOUS ACTIVITIES

SOCIAL ORGANIZATION

The Paracas Culture was very influenced by the Chavín culture, this
influence was reflected above all in their religious life and in the theocratic
government that were in the hands of the priests who implanted an
oppressive system, likewise there is the existence of a chain of centers
ceremonies by these priests. The social organization was divided by priests,
warrior nobility and the people. anexo 2

In the Paracas culture there was a group of military priests who, due to their
knowledge of the stars and the control of irrigated water, maintained the
political and technological religious domain.
The population of the Paracas culture was mostly made up of peasants who
accepted everything the priests said because they feared the punishments
of the goddesses if they did not obey. The villagers accepted that the priests
ruled in the name of the Gods.

DESCRIBE THEIR DAY TO DAY ACTIVITIES

As we know we do not have an exact record of the daily activities of the
Paracas settlers but we can intuit everything mentioned above. Since they
had knowledge of irrigation we can understand that they spent much of the
day making channels to be able to have a land to grow their food, after
carrying out this process they used the excrement of the guaneras birds as
fertilizer and thus have a better chance of better harvests. While a group
was engaged in this work others did it at sea, since they were close to the
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sea they could fish and thus trade or barter. Mostly women were engaged
in the next activity that is textile and this culture was declared the best in
this subject. Just as today not everyone is dedicated to all careers or
activities, it was the same in Paracas; there were people, now they would
be known as doctors, who performed surgeries and among the most famous
are cranial trepanations, finally another group of the Paracas society was
responsible for making beautiful ceramics, which were used in all types of
occasions.

DESCRIBE THEIR ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES

Paracas is one of the most deserted areas of the Peruvian coast, it is very
hot, there is no rain and the rivers are very irregular, but the inhabitants of
the Paracas culture dominated the desert and turned the arid areas into
green valleys. The inhabitants of the Paracas culture had great knowledge
of irrigation controlled the scarcity and the excess of the water taking
advantage of the underground and the superficial water, they led the cause
that went down disorderly by rivers taking 17 them through irrigation
channels that departed from mouths located kilometers above, they also
used the technique of the sunken farm or Wachaque that consists in
removing the surface layer of the arid earth and exposing the layer with the
subsoil moisture, this technique allowed them to sow and grow food.
Another great achievement of the Paracas culture was the use of the
excrement of the guaneras birds to fertilize the land, their main crops were
cotton, pallar and corn. Cotton was a very important crop for the elaboration
of their tissues, they knew white and colored cotton, pallar and corn were
basic in their diet. Because of its location near the coast, the Paracas also
took advantage of the riches of the sea, in their diet they included fish and
shellfish. They developed navigation techniques which facilitated
communication with other coastal towns such as Chincha, for example, they
also traveled to villages in the mountains to exchange cotton, salt and
marine products with the villages of the mountains where the Paracas
culture people obtained wool and dyes they needed for the manufacture of
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their fabrics and ceramics, from the jungle they obtained coca leaves and
feathers for the mantles.

THEIR RELIGIOUS BELIEFS

ReligionThis civilization was religiously very similar to Chavin, it should only

be noted that, the paracas have a God who worshiped above all, they
worshiped God Kon or Oculate God, which was believed to provide water
and food. The inhabitants begged him for the rains and the prosperity for
the crops.At the same time, they had a goddess named Urpayhuachac, wife
of the god Paracas Pachacamac, god of the night and the day that controlled
the seismic waves. This goddess reproduced the fish of the sea bringing
benefit to the population. The paracas worshiped her like her mother.One
of the relevant characteristics in religion is the cult of the dead. A deep
concern to maintain traditions and rituals is reflected, as well as an
exhaustive elaboration of the offerings that will be dedicated to deceased
relatives. This civilization had the custom of burying their dead in a fetal
position, packed in various layers of tissues, the most external being always
the most richly embroidered. One aspect of studies showed that the greater
the social position of the individual, the more exuberant his burden was, the
latter could contain his personal objects.The paracas performed surgical
operations, especially cranial trepanations. These operations consisted of
piercing the skull to remove or repair a damaged bone.For these practices,
surgeons used volcanic glass, gold and silver crescent knives, tweezers,
cotton, gauze and bandages.The skull was pierced with the volcanic glass
and the damaged bone was dug with the circular crescent knife, which made
a circle-shaped opening.Once the treatment was completed, the opening
was closed with plates of gold or other metal, allowing a successful
healing.Infusions of coca and corn alcohol were used as anesthesia. It is
said that these surgical intercessions were practiced for several reasons,
among them for trauma in wars.They were also executed when it was
necessary to apply treatments for mental illnesses. There is also the theory
that the skull was opened to remove evil-causing spirits.
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CHAPTER III
CONCLUSSIONS

 The Paracas believed a lot in life after death and prepared for it.
 The Paracas were intelligent men for having made their cranial
trepanations
 It is also concluded that they applied the practice of Medicine
through their activity mentioned above.
 The gold found in the Paracas Tombs is known to have been great
goldsmiths. The gold was obtained in the form of a nugget and
melted when they had a good amount, melting them and then
forming bars that were finally rolled by means of hammering,
forming threads as thin as human hair
 The Caverns fabrics are characterized by being of a geometric and
rigid type, the double fabric technique prevailing.
 The Necropolis fabrics, present greater delicacy in the designs
because they were embroidered, which allowed to obtain beautiful
motifs and creations full of color
 they produced their fabrics using the waist loom, in which simple
work was done for daily use. The most sophisticated fabrics were
made with complex techniques using cotton and wool.

INFORMATION SOURCES

1. https://historiaperuana.pe/periodo-autoctono/cultura-paracas/
2. https://historiaperuana.pe/periodo-autoctono/cultura-paracas/
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APPENDIXES

Geographil Localization (anexo 1)

SOCIAL ORGANIZATION (anexo 2)

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