The archaeological site of Paracas is located on the 
hills and plain of that part of the Peninsula of Paracas 
that borders the Bay of Independencia. This peninsula 
is situated on the southern coast of Peru between the 
valley of the Pisco and the mouth of the Ica rivers, and, 
like the adjoining mainland, is virtually a desert support- 
ing little or no vegetation. There has been much specu- 
lation as to whether or not such an environment could 
support a permanent population. Nevertheless, two well- 
defined, although related, cultures have been discovered 
at this site. 
A number of deep burial chambers connected with the 
surface by shafts were discovered in 1925 on the upper 
slopes and terraces of the hill designated as ‘*‘Cerro Colo- 
rado”’ (Tello, 1929; Carrion, 1949). The whole culture 
represented by these shaft burials is known as ‘‘Paracas 
Cavernas,’’ and the evidence points to it as one of con- 
siderable relative antiquity. The second culture at the 
site of Paracas was first revealed in 1927 with the dis- 
covery of the famous Paracas Necropolis (Tello, 1929) 
located on the lower slopes of this same hill. Within the 
crude walls of the underground burial chamber, 429 
mummy bundles of various sizes, mostly conical in shape, 
were found. The term ‘‘Paracas Necropolis’’ designates 
not only this particular site, but also the culture that these 
bundles and their contents represent. The most out- 
standing of the latter are the famous Paracas Necropolis 
textiles. 
Most Peruvianists consider Cavernas the older of the 
two related cultural phases (Kroeber, 1944; Bennett, 
1946; Bennett and Bird, 1949; Carrion, 1949). How- 
ever, the question of chronology must remain open until 
such time as stratigraphic excavations are made. The 
area in which these sites are located is not hospitable to 
human occupation, and some authorities appear to agree 
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