The Incas arrived comparatively late on the Peruvian cultural scene. Humans had been living for thousands of years on the coast
and were growing and weaving cotton and planting such domesticated crops as corn, squash, and beans before about 3000
b.c. The oldest of the high cultures of the Andes was the Chavin culture, which began between 1200 and 800 b.c. and lasted
until about 400 b.c. Its center, which continued to be important as late as Inca times, was the stone-built city of Chavin de
Huantar in a narrow valley beyond the Cordillera Blanca in the central Andes. At a later date other cultures developed on the
north coast, notably the Mochica (c. 100 b.c.-a.d. 800), a caste-minded empire which developed a high craftsmanship in
building, ceramics, and textiles.