News

Oct 30, 2023

Unique tombs wrapped in high

Unique tombs wrapped in high-quality fabrics and painted bodies were discovered

Unique tombs wrapped in high-quality fabrics and painted bodies were discovered at the monumental temple in Peru.

Located on the Cerro Colorado hill near the city of Barranca, Peru, four mysterious mounds were identified as spots with potential archaeological significance. The mounds were later revealed to contain human remains and the remain of a temple structure.

Excavations are being carried out by archaeologists from the Jagiellonian University and St Mark's University as part of the Programa de Investigacion "Los valles de Barranca" project.

The project to investigate the area began in 2022, and the results were announced in February of this year, according to Nauka W Polsce.

Human burials and monumental architecture made of dried bricks and stone blocks were discovered during research on two of the mounds. This has resulted in a large-scale excavation of the site, where the project has discovered destroyed burials in the form of burial bundles, which were placed within the ruins of a temple complex made of dried brick.

The remains of a young boy whose skull was intentionally deformed are found in one of the destroyed burials. He was originally buried with decorated textiles, indicating that he came from a high-status family. The fabric was three meters long and decorated with totally unique zoomorphic representations.

Bioarchaeologist, Łukasz Majchrzak, said "One of them (fabrics), 3 meters long, was decorated with zoomorphic representations and is unique – similar fabrics have not been found in the entire Andes so far,"

The construction of the temple complex was dated by physicochemical analysis and carbon dating of organic remains to between 2500 and 2200 BC, whereas the same method used to date the burials indicates that they were interred between AD 772 and 989.

"Andeans used to set up necropolises in abandoned places of worship. This was also the case here because the graves were dug into structures that were several thousand years older," added Majchrzak.

The grass and mortar mixture that was used to bind the blocks that made up the small pyramid was sampled for the structure's dating. Settlements with imposing architecture were built in the Andes during the third millennium BC, and agriculture spread as a result of interactions with communities residing in the Amazon.

The examined graves date from the Wari Empire's reign over the region. Castillo de Huarmey, one of the most important sites of this culture, is only 70 kilometers north of Barranca.

Two mounds have yet to be explored.

PAP

Cover Photo: Łukasz Majchrzak

20 April 2022

During the demolition work of the buildings in front of the historical city walls for the City Square National Garden...

18 October 2021

In Sayburç, one of the Taş Tepeler in Şanlıurfa, a five-figure scene consisting of humans, leopards, and a bull was...

20 August 2022

The Glacier archaeologists found a 1300-year-old arrow from the Norwegian Iron Age during a research project on the Langfonne ice...

2 November 2021

Stunning new reconstructions have revealed how Scotland's largest known Pictish fort may have looked over one thousand years ago. Three-dimensional...

17 December 2021

A team of Iranian and Italian archaeologists recently unearthed some glazed bricks bearing bull and dragon motifs in the ancient...

14 January 2023

Archaeologists have found a mass grave site containing 38 decapitated burials at a Neolithic settlement in Vráble, Slovakia. The remains...

24 March 2021

Salt has always been a precious metal. Salt was needed in many areas, from the preservation of food to the...

30 April 2021

A man who studied the forest to make a map for the orienteering club in western Sweden made an incredible...

24 January 2023

Iranian archaeologists found the ruins of a stoneware workshop estimated to date back to the 3rd millennium BC, during their...

22 May 2021

A well-preserved ancient Roman bath complex emerged from the sand of a beach in the Andalusian region of southwestern Spain....

27 February 2021

In Japan, the suppression of Christianity increased from the end of the 16th century to the beginning of the 17th...

7 June 2021

Following various findings showing ancient Egyptian King Ramses III had a presence on the Arabian Peninsula, an Egyptian archaeological team...

25 July 2022

A rare 1850-year-old exceptionally well-preserved bronze coin depicting the Roman moon goddess Luna has been found off the coast of...

22 April 2023

During an archaeological dig in western Sweden this summer, the remains of two medieval merchant vessels known as cogs were...

17 March 2021

A complete skull fossil from 7.5 million years ago was discovered on the bank of the Yamula Dam in the...

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.