Ancient Peru means present day Peru and the surrounding countries of Bolivia, Ecuador and parts of Chile, Colombia and Argentina
1.- Costly apparel. Silk spoken of in the Book of Mormon. The Peruvians were the master weavers of the ancient Americas. Silk could be any finely woven cloth.
2.- Gold Plates Thin metal gold plates have been found. It has been shown that people in the area were working gold as early as 1900 BC. In contrast, the earliest evidence of metal working in Mesoamerica is about 900 AD.
3.- Book of Mormon people mined gold and silver in abundance, as well as copper and iron. The gold found by the Spanish in this land is legendary, and yet there is evidence that the Inkas priests hid much gold from the Spanish. Large collections of highly skilled gold artifacts remain. Also evidence of iron is found. In contrast there is no evidence of any iron workings in Mesoamerica.
4.- The Nephites worshipped Jesus Christ. The Quetzalcoatl legends start around 900 AD, long after the time of Christ. In contrast, the premier god of the Andes is Viracocha. He dressed in a white robe and wore sandals. He is always in the form of a normal man, and never with the beast like features associated with Quetzalcoatl.
5.- Jesus Christ visited the Americas. The Peruvians have legends of a bearded white god who came among them and taught them and healed the sick. The Icons of Viracocha usually show him with tears.
6.- A language with middle eastern roots. Mesoamerica has many Chinese roots.
However, the native Quechua in Peru has semetic roots by many studies.
7.- A vanished written language. The Inkas told the Spanish that they had had a written language, but it was lost long before. In contrast, hundreds of written documents have been found in Mesoamerica. Jacob 4:1-2 predicts only things written on plates will survive.
8.- Great cities built form 3rd millennium BC. In the andies city ruins from 2700 BC exist. In contrast, cities in Mesoamerica exist from only 1200 BC. The cities of Caral date from 2700 BC and the ruins resemble the ziggurats from Mesopotamia from which the Jaredites came. The Book of Mormon main civilization ended around 400 AD. The Mesoamerican classic period was from 300 AD to 900 AD.
9.- Archeological periods (civilizations) for proposed Book of Mormon lands:
Caral — Norte Chico 2700-300 BC (Jaredites)
Central Andes — Early Intermediate 600 BC to AD 200 (Land of Nephi)
Early Tiwanaku IV — Late Chiripa II Middle formative 600 BC – AD 400 (Lamanite lands)
Northern Titicaca basin Late/Upper Formative 500 BC – AD 400 (Zarahemla
Land of Book of Mormon was divided into quarters: Alma 43:26 52:10. The Inkas called their land the land of the four quarters, and divided the land into four quarters.
10.- The land was covered with borders, meaning Mountains. The word borders means mountains in Hebrew and Arabic. The book of Mormon talks of mountains. This is indicative of the Andes which has many mountains.
11.- The Inkas were great Highway builders. The Book of Mormon speaks of many highways. 3 Nephi 8:13 The Inkas and preInkas used cement, as also mentioned in the Book of Mormon.
12.- The Nephites were Hebrews The only place the Hebrew DNA has been found in the Americas so far is in South America.
13.- Book of Mormon people divided into two groups: fair skinned and dark skinned. Artifacts and legends in Peru tell of two earlier people: one fair skinned and one dark skinned. The legends say the dark skinned killed of the fair skinned people. Artifacts show well dressed light skinned people fighting dark skinned people with only loin clothes.
14.- The Nephites were skilled ship builders. The reed boats in Titicaca match the reed boats in Mesopotamia. The Inkas had large ships when the Spanish came.
15.- The people of the Book of Mormon had horses. But it never mentions anyone riding horses. It was common in ancient histories for Generals to call new animals they found with names they were used to. Possibly Nephi saw Llamas and called them horses.
16.- The Book of Mormon had many types of grain. There are many types of grains grown in the Andes.
17.- The Book of Mormon people were shepherds. The Book of Mormon mentions sheep and shepherding many times. This fact alone removes North and Mesoamerica as a candidate for the Book of Mormon history. The only domesticated animals the Mayans had were turkeys and dogs. In the andes Alpacas are hered like sheep and the Spanish described them as sheep. The Nephites could have also called them sheep. Vicunas would be what are called wild goats in the Book of Mormon.
18.- Elephants, pigs and cattle are mentioned in the Book of Mormon. These terms must have applied to Andes versions of these animals.
19.- The Nephites had solar and lunar calendars. The ancient Peruvians also had solar and lunar calendars.
20.- The Inkas had large graineries. The Book of Mormon speaks of storages of grain at times.