Pikimachay is an archaeological

Archaeology

Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...

 site in the Ayacucho Valley of Peru

Peru

Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....

. Radiocarbon dates from this cave give a human precence ranging from 22,200 to 14,700 years ago, but this evidence has been disputed and a more conservative date 12,000 BCE seems possible.

Richard S. MacNeish was the first archaeologist to explore Pikimachay. Evidence of long-term human occupation has been found at the site, though that evidence still remains controversial.

The cave is part of the Ayacucho complex, a culture defined by several cave sites including Jayamachay or Pepper Cave.

Artifacts

Artifacts discovered in the site include unifacial chipped tools, such as basalt and chert tools, choppers, and projectile points, and bone artifacts of horses, camelids (Camelidae), giant sloths (Megatherium

Megatherium

Megatherium was a genus of elephant-sized ground sloths endemic to Central America and South America that lived from the Pliocene through Pleistocene existing approximately...

) dating from 15,000—11,000 BCE.

Agriculture

Pikimachay yielded some of the oldest plant remains in Peru, including a 11,000 year old bottle gourd. Strata from later periods at the site revealed fishtail points, manos, and metate

Metate

A metate is a mortar, a ground stone tool used for processing grain and seeds. In traditional Mesoamerican culture, metates were typically used by women who would grind calcified maize and other organic materials during food preparation...

s. Plant remains indicate that, before 3000 BCE, amaranth

Amaranth

Amaranthus, collectively known as amaranth, is a cosmopolitan genus of herbs. Approximately 60 species are recognized, with inflorescences and foliage ranging from purple and red to gold...

, cotton, gourds, lucuma

Lúcuma

The lúcuma is a subtropical fruit native to the Peru's Andean region. Lucuma has been found on ceramics at burial sites of the indigenous people of coastal Peru...

, quinoa

Quinoa

Quinoa , a species of goosefoot , is a grain-like crop grown primarily for its edible seeds. It is a pseudocereal rather than a true cereal, or grain, as it is not a member of the grass family...

, and squash were cultivated in the Ayacucho Basin before 3000 BCE. By 4000 BCE corn (Zea mays) and common beans were grown. Chili remains date from 5500—4300 BCE. The large amounts of guinea pig

Guinea pig

The guinea pig , also called the cavy, is a species of rodent belonging to the family Caviidae and the genus Cavia. Despite their common name, these animals are not in the pig family, nor are they from Guinea...

 bones suggest possible domestication, and llama

Llama

The llama is a South American camelid, widely used as a meat and pack animal by Andean cultures since pre-Hispanic times....

s may have been domesticated by 4300–2800 BCE.