Beneath what is itself an ancient homo - made earth pyramid built long ago , archaeologist have bring out some of theearliest evidence of modern humans living in South America . Dating to around 15,000 years ago , researchers have notice a whole host of artifact documenting how these ancient people made a living and on the face of it thrive along the coastal champaign of Peru .

When research worker get down their mining of one of the earliest and largest pyramid in South America , located at Huaca Prieta in the north of Peru , they made a startling discovery . After digging some 31 meters ( 100 infantry ) below the structure , which is itself of great meaning , they were surprised to   findevidence of early mod humansliving in South America , in the course of fire hearths , animal bones , and even rudimentary stone putz .

It shows how the early people were not simply make pass through this region , but settle , relying on the ocean and local plants for food . While the record is not continuous , it shows that for some reason , people kept returning to the same land site over the thousands of year it was occupied , and give an astonishing insight into how these early people were subsist .

“ The mounds of artifacts retrieved from Huaca Prieta include food stay , stone tool and other cultural features such as flowery baskets and textiles,”explainedJames M. Adovasio , who co - author the work published inScience Advances . They establish that the people had been corrode chili peppers , crush , and avocado , as well as food taken from the ocean , such as mussels , shark , and even ocean Leo .

The site is so complete that it also documents how the settlement , and thus guild and democracy , must have educate over time . The archeologist have uncovered bait that they think would have been used for the deep - sea sportfishing of Clupea harangus , which itself would have required the construction of boats that could come through jolty water .

shard of textiles have been discover , as well as in an elaborate way weave hoop made from a miscellanea of different plants , including some constructed from reeds that are still used by modern basket makers in the region . The site has even revealed theearliest utilisation of indigo dyeanywhere in the Earth , antedate the Egyptians by at least 1,500 years .

“ To make these complicated textiles and hoop bespeak that there was a standardised or unionized manufacturing process in place and that all of these artifact were much fancy than they needed to be for that fourth dimension period , ” says Adovasio . This shows that there was some grade of societal complexness when the objective were made , and likely evidence that some had gamy social stature than others .