Zaña Valley (archaeology)

Zaña Valley is a designated archaeological area in northern Peru. The valley is located southeast of the city of Chiclayo. The Zaña River is often dry in its lower course, but occasionally has torrential flows. The city of Zaña is the principal settlement in the valley. The valley contains the earliest known canals in South America. These engineering belongs to a preceramic period and consists of small stone-lined canals that drew water from uphill streams in the Andes Mountains. Accelerator Mass Spectrometer dating of aggregate flecks of charcoal from the oldest canal was to 6705 + 75 14C. Archaeologists believe that the canals were used as early as 6,700 and 4,500 years ago. A temple associated with more than one cultural period also has been discovered in the valley.