The history of Lima does not only begin with the foundation of the colonial city by Francisco Pizarro in 1535. The area, where we today find the Peruvian capital, was already inhabited many thousands of years before that. The time before the Spanish colonization is full of rich and unique cultures, but also reflects a long process where humankind developrd its skills and made the desert stripe between the Pacific Ocean and the Andes a habitable place and a green oasis.

The first inhabitants, who settled in the Lima area already around 10.000 BC, were fishermen and hunters and gatherers who slowly discovered and developed agriculture. From today’s Ancón in the north to Pucusana in the south and along the valleys of the three rivers Chillón, Rimac and Lurín, which are still important to this day, small settlements with very simple huts arose between 8000 BC and 6000 BC. Archeological findings of stone instruments along the Chillón River can be associated with the Andean lithic period (approx. 7500 BC) and are so far the oldest proof of human existence in Peru. The first genuine communities were in the Chilca-Pucusana-San Bartholo area located in the south of today’s (around 5500 BC to 4500 BC) and in the Ancón area (in the north).