Much of the information on the Paracas comes from the archaeological excavations undertaken in Cerro Colorado («Paracas-Caverns») and in Warikayan («Paracas-Necropolis») by the Peruvian archaeologist Julio C. Tello and his disciple Toribio Mejía Xesspe in the Years 1920.
Nowadays it is known that what Tello called «Paracas-Necropolis» belongs to another cultural tradition, the so-called culture Topará, whose center was located more to the north, in the valley of Chincha.
The Paracas practiced a textile of high quality, in wool and cotton, as well as a decorated ceramics and a very elaborate basketry. They also carried out trepanation cranial, whose ends are still discussed.
Paracas culture is the ancestor of the Nazca culture with which it has an obvious cultural affinity; In fact, for many specialists, the final phase of Paracas is actually the initial phase of the Nazca culture.