Inca misteries
One of the most amazing enigmas in history is the true story about ancient civilizations in the south american altiplano. Follow is a extract of book "Le revolte des Magiciens" by L. Pauwels and J. Bergier, which exposes both a "classical" and a "romantic" view of our past. If you plan trip to Inca Roads, I reccomend you see this intriguing book: Extract is as follow (sorry for poor translation):
Clasical cronology
9.000 B.C: Men quite similar to indians of our age hunts animals (actually extingished) in South America
3.000 B.C. Men discover the agriculture
1.200 B.C. Born of thecnical knowledge with development of ceramic
800 B.C. Appears corn as base of daily eating
700 B.C. to 100 A.C. Tree sucesive civilization appears and fall
100 to 1.000 AC Born of important civilizations and construction of the ciclopeous city of Thiahuanaco
1.000 to 1.200 AC A blank era in which has been not encountered any single object, as notorious archeologist Alfred Metraux states "nothing allow us to fill this hole"
1.200 to 1.400 AC ĦA series of Inca emperors which no one know if they really existed!. Archeologist cautelously name as them as "semi legendarious"
1.492 AC Discovering of America
1.532 AC Destruction of Inca imperium by spanish troops
1.583 AC By desition of Concilio de Lima, the most of ropes with nodes (quipus) in which Incas had registred his history and of former civilization was trow to fire. So dissapears the last chance to kwon thw truth on the past on Peru. Actually, all that both classical as romantical archeologist can do is state hipotesis.
Romantic Cronology
50.000 BC In Meseta de M;arcahuasi, born the Masma civilization, the most ancient on earth
30.000 BC Founding of megalitical empire of Tiahuanaco
1.000 BC to 1.000 AC five great empires, separated by sucessive catastrophes
1.200 AC Manco Capac founds the Inca imperium. From this point the romantic cronology match with the classical one.
There are lots of links on Ancient civilizations in the altiplano, the best I knew (in spanish) is
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/9071/
If you plan trip there, see thoses pages which are full of interesting historic stuff