32 Ancient Cities That Are Older Than the Pyramids

31. Sechin Bajo, Peru: Americas' Oldest Monumental Site?

Challenging Caral as the oldest urban center in the Americas, Sechin Bajo in Peru's Casma Valley contains structures, including a sunken circular plaza, potentially dating back to an astonishing 3500 BCE. If confirmed, this radically pushes back the timeline for large-scale communal construction and complex social organization in the New World, predating even the earliest Egyptian pyramids by centuries. Sechin Bajo offers tantalizing clues about the very deep roots of Andean civilization and the independent emergence of monumental architecture outside the Old World narrative.