Guitarrero Cave
A rock shelter above the Santa river in the Callejón de Huaylas. People used it more than 10,000 years ago.
What the dry floor preserved
Guitarrero is dry, and the deposits on its floor preserved things that normally rot: cord, basketry, wooden tools and plants. Some of the woven fragments are among the oldest textiles known from South America.
The plant remains include beans and chili peppers, which shows that people in the Andes were growing crops very early.
Guitarrero Cave at a glance
- Location
- near Shupluy, Yungay province, Áncash
- Altitude
- about 2,580 m
- Type
- rock shelter
- Excavated
- 1969, by Thomas Lynch
- First use
- more than 10,000 years ago
- Finds
- textiles, cordage, wooden tools, plant remains
- Setting
- Callejón de Huaylas, between the Cordillera Blanca and the Cordillera Negra
- Visit
- on foot from the valley road
A shelter above the river
The cave is a wide, shallow opening in a cliff on the western side of the valley, facing the snow peaks of the Cordillera Blanca. There is little to see inside, and the interest is in the setting and the history.
Guitarrero Cave in figures
Before you go
Getting there
The cave is near the road through the Callejón de Huaylas between Yungay and Caraz, about an hour and a half north of Huaraz.
On the visit
A footpath climbs from the valley. There are no facilities at the site.
Good to know
The finds are in museums, not at the cave. Combine the visit with Yungay and the Llanganuco lakes.
Opening times, access rules and prices change. Confirm them before you travel: the Ministry of Culture office in Huaraz.
