The largest of the Caral pyramids, the Greater Pyramid is 358 feet wide and 90 feet high. A 29-foot wide staircase opens into a series of small rooms, which include an atrium and a sacred altar. The altar room has a small hole in the floor, in which offerings were once burned.
The Huanca Pyramid is 180 feet wide and just 40 feet high. It gets its name from its alignment with a nearby huanca, or long stone wedged in the ground. Two rings of smaller rocks surround the stone and the larger ring leads into a path that runs straight up to the pyramid's main staircase. The rock structure looks vaguely like a sundial and it is thought to have had some astronomical significance.
The area in which the pyramids are located is separated into upper and lower sections. The majority of the Caral pyramids are in the upper section, but the Amphitheater Pyramid is the clear centerpiece of the lower area. It is 266 feet wide, 36 feet tall and, similar to the Greater Pyramid, it is attached to a large circular plaza. One side of the plaza has a number of ledges, which look like bleachers or stands; taken as a whole, the area resembles a modern-day amphitheater.
The Amphitheater Pyramid is thought to have had great ceremonial significance. There is another sacrificial altar here and 32 finely crafted flutes have been unearthed from the area.
At 92 feet wide and just 13 feet tall, the Pyramid of the Circular Altar is the smallest in Caral. However, one of the most important sacrificial altars in Caral was on top of the tiny pyramid. It is thought that access to this altar was extremely restricted.
