Paloma is an archaeological site in Peru, located 65 km south of Lima in Chilca District, Cañete Province. Based on radiocarbon dating, it was a village from roughly 5700 to 2800 BCE. This corresponds to the late Preceramic IV and Preceramic V periods. It is one of the earliest villages in the Americas that archaeologists have been able to date stratigraphically. It is on the north edge of the Chilca River valley, in hills separating the main valley from a dry canyon called Quebrada de los Perdidos. The inhabitants would have been "within easy walking distance" from both the Chilca River itself (7-8 km south) and the Pacific coast, 3-4 km west. The site is bounded by coastal hills on the north and south. Paloma lies on the edge of the lomas - areas where moisture from fog allows plants to