Experts believe the city—since named Peñico—was once a thriving urban center optimized for trade with a connection to the Americas’ oldest civilization. Located in the Lima region, the city has since been named “Peñico,” meaning the city of social integration. Experts believe that the city’s builders strategically selected the location to facilitate trade between the coast, the highlands, and the jungle. “This urban center developed following the cultural tradition of Caral,” Ruth Shady, director of the Caral Archeological Zone (ZAC), explained in a translated press release , referencing the Caral civilization, the oldest known civilization in the Americas. Researchers believe that the urban area was established around 1800 B.C., 1,200 years after the Caral civilization was established around 3000 B.C.