Culture of the Piura region on Peru's far northern coast (type site Cerro Vicús), known for elaborate gold/silver/copper metalwork including early gilding techniques and a distinctive negative-resist ('vicús') ceramic style; served as a cultural link between the central Andes and cultures further north.
Declined by the mid-1st millennium AD amid growing Moche cultural influence in the region.
Covers the far-north-coast Peruvian cultures including Vicús within the broader Andean formative/regional sequence.