One pretty interesting object has been found in Peru. The archeological item is a little clay figure about 3,800 years old. The discovery shows two frogs joined by the hind legs, and it was discovered in Vichama, a close settlement near the Caral, 110 kilometers north of Lima.
The object is about 12 centimeters, and it gives a sense of how the people back then used to think of their relationship with nature. According to Tatiana Abad, the excavation director of Vichama, frogs were linked to the water and the rain, some sort of key for planting and surviving. The director from the Zona Arqueológica Caral (Caral archeological zone), Ruth Shady, said that findings like this one tell hopeful stories about facing climate change that affected these communities.
Caral was an influence in previous cultures like Chavin, Moche, and Inca, so pieces like this one link different episodes of the Andean story. It’s a way to see how ancestors lived and what they believed in.
Why Vichama is so important
Vichama is an urban center of 25 hectares with ceremonial squares and public buildings and also housing. It’s pretty close to Caral, home to the Caral civilization that was born there more than 5,000 years ago in the coastal valleys of actual Peru. This discovery in Vichama is not just a cute pair of frogs; it represents both of them joined by their back legs, which hadn’t been seen before in Peruvian land. So it’s a big clue.
As referred to before by Abad, frogs are linked to water and rain, so the pieces might be expressing the wish for good weather, gratitude for humidity seasons, or rituals that were looking to ensure harvest. This fits the experts theories: water was vital, and representation with animals inculcated with it could have a strong symbolic sense and even practical. In this way, the figure is not just art; it’s sending a message.
Frogs, Caral, and other cultures
Tatiana Abad and Ruth Shady: When weather changes and rain is either too much or too little, people will go around looking for ways to ask for balance and remember what was essential to leave.
This type of idea connects Caral and Vichama with older cultures like Inca, Chavin, and Moche.
Caral was vital for the development of other societies. Each one had their own style and their own beliefs, but they shared the point of view in nature. They would observe it, respect it, and try to talk with it. This was actually possible to see in the ceremonial squares and objects like the little double frog.
Furthermore, in the urban context, it shows that the Vichamas had a very organized society with its squares and houses, where ritual and everyday life coexisted.
Small frogs with a big story
That discovery, not too far from Lima, gives one more piece of the puzzle to understand the Caral civilization and their legacy. Two frogs together, remaining in that water, rain, and agriculture were the center of life. Showing how communities would face weather challenges with symbols and practices that would “give them hope,” as Ruth Shady says.
The message of this archeological item is exactly that, a message. Not a simple object or an old thing from the past, but a true window of information about how older civilizations would think and act. Eating, planting, and waiting for the rain to come; that’s what the frog tells us.
The funny thing is that today, time has changed evolved, but the question is still alive and being asked everywhere: How can we take care of the water and Earth we depend on?