Archaeologists in Peru on Monday found a mummy believed to be more than 1,000-years-old in the outskirts of the nation’s capital.
It’s believed that the mummy was an adolescent at the time of his or her death, and may have lived further back in history than when the Inca civilization ruled the region, Reuters reported. The mummy was found in an underground tomb filled with ceramics, rope, and was wrapped in a funeral bundle, roughly 200 meters away from where another mummy was found in 2022 in a research area known as Cajamarquilla.
The complex uncovered at the Cajamarquilla site has also revealed the remains of at least eight children and 12 adults who appeared to have been sacrificed some 800-1,200-years-ago, Reuters noted.
Archaeologists in #Peru have found a 1,000-year-old adolescent #mummy at the pre-Inca site of #Cajamarquilla that might have belonged to the Lima or Ichma cultures.
Cajamarquilla is 20km from Lima.
More info:
https://t.co/7J6a3eynPw#AncientPeru #VisitPeru #archaeology pic.twitter.com/9gizZAosS3— LatAmTravelist (@LatAmTravelist) April 25, 2023
Reuters described the area as a maze. It’s also the second-largest mud-brick city discovered thus far in Peru. Previous explorations have revealed sprawling urbanization, featuring the ruins of pyramids and other significant construction. (RELATED: Researchers Discover Child Ingested Psychoactive Cactus Prior To Ancient Ceremonial Death)
Archaeologist Yomira Huaman, who runs the Cajamarquilla excavation project, said the most recent mummy was uncovered in a “good state of conservation,” Reuters continued. It’s unclear exactly when the teenager was alive, but initial testing suggests that they might have lived between 1,100 and 1,200-years-ago, and been a member of the Lima or Ichma cultures that predate the Inca and Spanish settlements across South America.