Stanish[2] concluded that this was a time when settlements were broadly distributed, located at various distances from the coast allowing access to a variety of marine and agricultural resources.

[11] Moseley considers it a major supporter of his Maritime Foundations Theory which argues that a heavy reliance on rich marine resources were instrumental in the early establishment of social complexity in the region.

Confirms the site as Preceramic, based on textile remnants and lack of ceramics Thomas C. Patterson and Michael E. Moseley identify the existence of between nine and thirteen buildings Jeffrey Quilter begins the first of several field-seasons of a multi-disciplinary study, El Proyecto Bajo Valle del Chillón Jeffrey Quilter concentrates the project efforts on El Paraíso for the purpose of establishing a chronology, and establishing a better understanding of the architecture and subsistence economy of the site The importance of El Paraíso as the "largest and earliest example of monumental architecture in the New World", has not resulted in a significant amount of archaeological investigation.

This was followed up in the early to mid-1980s by Quilter, who headed a multi-year, multi-discipline orientated research project in the lower Chillon valley, El Proyecto Bajo Valle del Chillón.

[3] A variety of artifactual material has been recovered from the various excavation work detailing a wide array of subsistence, social and ideological insight.

It appears that the inhabitants of El Paraíso buried most of their garbage in pits, either outside and often in association with structures, being either behind or beside buildings, or inside as room fill.

Other centers at this time revealed that dying cotton was not uncommon as yellow, red, bright emerald green and orange dyed textile remains have been found in such Preceramic sites as Huaca Prieta, Los Gavilanes, La Galgada and Asia (Peru).

[3] The room at El Paraíso also contained cotton and wood remains, including needles, suggesting that this may have been a place where feathers were incorporated into textile manufacture for ritual and prestige items.

[3] Other evidence of ritual was found inside a wall in Unit I; a large stone offering resembling an Inka huacas (rock or other natural object believed to represent ancestral corporate groups).

[3] A news report in February 2013 of an expedition led by Mark Guillen stated that the remains of a temple had been found in the right wing of the main pyramid.

"[17] In the last Research, Conservation and Value enhancement Project of the El Paraiso Monumental Archaeological Zone, in 2016, a 4,000-year-old cactus was found, possibly of the hallucinogenic species San Pedro (Echinopsis pachanoi), about 30 centimeters long, in perfect condition.

El Paraiso is located just north of the other Preceramic and Ceramic sites, such as La Florida, which is situated in the nearby Rimac and Lurin valley river systems.

[3] Unfortunately for archaeologists, modern machinery, roads, and irrigation canals have disturbed the ground in the immediate vicinity of the features, especially in the western half of the site.

In contrast, the view of the ocean at El Paraíso is blocked by hills, and the site does not overlook the largest adjacent fields.

It is built of rough trimmed stones quarried from a nearby hill side, assembled with coarse fill and mortar, and then covered in plaster.

Room 2 is the oldest in this complex, and an 80 x 80 cm excavation unit located in the north east corner contained four distinct floors, each separated by black midden deposits.

[3] The last phase suggests ceremonial use; the most notable finding in this building was the ritual offering placed inside one of the walls.

The upper levels revealed ceramic sherds, cloth fragments, and domestic refuse suggesting a mixed use during occupation.

A large quantity of bird guano, avian skeletal material, and feathers were found in the lower layers but no associated remains of nesting boxes or other structures indicating aviculture.

[34] It is significant that the El Paraiso people were maritime-adapted because the finds on the site provide the first direct evidence[34] for the theory that the early civilization of Peru was founded on seafood resources and not upon domesticated plants and animals.

[34] Normally the cold Humboldt Current flows from south to north bringing nutrient rich plankton and with it an abundance of marine life along the Peruvian coast.

For a few years every century, an El Niño event occurs that reverses the flow of the current resulting in extremely poor marine catches.

In response to such a period of extreme poverty of resources, a priestly class may have arisen to provide leadership and to appeal to the gods for relief.

[32] Archaeological evidence for the existence of such elites includes prestige burials with status items such as elaborate clothing and jewelry.

[36] The Pacific Ocean brings the Humboldt Current through, creating rich and diverse marine life as well as lush tropical vegetation.

There is a high amount of non-domesticated foods found in the archaeological record, which supports that there were sufficient resources that could be hunted or collected.

Based on minimum number of individuals (MNI) results, the bony fishes mainly consisted of anchovies and the most common molluscs were mussels.

Cotton was cultivated to provide nets for fishing as well as clothing for the inhabitants of El Paraíso showing a prominence in industrial agriculture in subsistence strategies.

[34] Other cultigens include squash (Cucurbita ficifolia, C. maxima, and C. moschata), chili pepper (Capiscum sp), the common bean (P. vulgaris), achira (Canne edulis) and jicama (Pachyrrhizus tuberosus).

[34] An abundance of Solanum spp., found within coprolite remains indicates there were plants ranging from night shades to potatoes most likely being domesticated as well.