The Chiribaya culture flourished near the coast of southern Peru and adjacent Chile from 700 CE until Spanish settlement in the late 16th century.

The people of the Chiribaya culture lived near the Pacific Ocean in the Atacama Desert which is commonly known as the driest non-polar place in the world.,[1][2] The total annual precipitation at Ilo, Peru, at the mouth of the Osmore River is .1 inches (2.5 mm).

The four rivers in the territory of the Chiribaya culture and their tributaries rise about 130 kilometres (81 mi) inland in the wetter Andes at elevations of up to 5,000 metres (16,000 ft).

[9] Rather than being a unified state under a single government, the Chiribaya area is often described as a señorío, a collection of loosely affiliated communities each headed by a local leader and resembling the manors of medieval Europe.

High altitude Andean cultures and civilizations established colonies at lower elevations near the Pacific Coast or in the Amazon River basin.

[13] About 1360 CE, an uncharacteristic flood, probably caused by the El Niño Southern Oscillation, destroyed the irrigation systems and many settlements in the Osmore valley.

Peruvian authorities are attempting to get international recognition of present-day Chiribaya shepherd dogs, which resemble a small Golden Retriever, as a unique breed.