Casma is a city in the Ancash Region

Ancash Region

Ancash is a region in northern Peru. It is bordered by the La Libertad region on the north, the Huánuco and Pasco regions on the east, the Lima region on the south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. Its capital is the city of Huaraz, and its largest city and port is Chimbote...

, 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....

. It is located in the Casma Valley

Casma Valley

The Casma Valley, a coastal valley situated about north of Lima, Peru, lies between the towns of Chimbote and Huarmey. It is notable for the grand scale of numerous archaeological sites, including stone-faced pyramids and the Thirteen Towers of Chankillo. Sechin Alto is the largest American...

. Its surface has 1 204,85 km².
Its people venerate saint Santa Maria Magdalena and its day is celebrated on July 22.

Some of the largest prehistoric monuments around the world are situated in the Casma Valley and in the Sechín Valley. The pyramid, main square, and circular sunken courtyard complexes extend over one kilometer in length. In February 2008 archaeologists uncovered a ceremonial plaza which has been dated to 5,500 years ago, making it one of the oldest structures ever found in the Americas. http://news.aol.com/story/_a/5500-year-old-plaza-discovered-in-peru/20080225182409990001?ncid=NWS00010000000001

Sechin Bajo archaeological site

German and Peruvian archeologists work at the circular 5,500-year-old sunken ceremonial plaza, built of stones and adobe, part of the Sechin Bajo archaeological complex in Casma, Andes foothills, 330 kilometres (205.1 mi) northwest of Lima, Feb. 2008. The archeologists say the plaza is the oldest known monument in Peru.

Chankillo archaeological site

The Thirteen Towers of Chankillo (chanquillo) run north to south along a low ridge within a fourth-century BCE ceremonial complex in north coastal Peru. From evident observing points within the adjacent buildings to the west and east, they formed an artificial toothed horizon that spanned—almost exactly—the annual rising and setting arcs of the Sun. The Chankillo towers thus provide evidence of early solar horizon observations and of the existence of sophisticated Sun cults, preceding the Sun pillars of Incaic Cusco by almost two millennia.

Note: The Thirteen Towers of Chankillo and their connection to the rising and the setting arcs of the Sun has not been proven.

Sources

• El Comercio
• YAHOO! NEWS

Ghezzi, Ivan; and Clive Ruggles (2 March 2007). "Chankillo: A 2300-Year-Old Solar Observatory in Coastal Peru". Science (Washington, DC: AAAS) 315 (5816): pp. 1239–1243. doi:10.1126/science.1136415. ISSN 0036-8075. OCLC 110607624. PMID 17332405.