Astronomical Alignment Found in Conjunction with Peruvian Pyramid

A great discovery, but perhaps not a surprising one, given what we already know.  Let's hope that it will now be preserved for posterity.

LiveScience.com | Photo By Image by Laura Griffin

Stunning Astronomical Alignment Found at Peru Pyramid

By Owen Jarus, LiveScience Contributor | LiveScience.com – Mon, May 6, 2013

An ancient astronomical alignment in southern Peru has been discovered by researchers between a pyramid, two stone lines and the setting sun during the winter solstice. During the solstice, hundreds of years ago, the three would have lined up to frame the pyramid in light.

The two stone lines, called geoglyphs, are located about 1.2 miles (2 kilometers) east-southeast from the pyramid. They run for about 1,640 feet (500 meters), and researchers say the lines were "positioned in such a way as to frame the pyramid as one descended down the valley from the highlands."

Using astronomical software and 3D modeling, the researchers determined that a remarkable event would have occurred during the time of the winter solstice. [See Images of the Pyramid and Solstice Alignment]

"When viewed in 3D models, these lines appear to converge at a point beyond the horizon and frame not only the site of Cerro del Gentil [where the pyramid is], but also the setting sun during the time of the winter solstice," the research team wrote in a poster presentation given recently at the Society for American Archaeology annual meeting in Honolulu.

"Thus someone viewing the sunset from these lines during the winter solstice would have seen the sun setting directly behind, or sinking into, the adobe pyramid," they write. "Thus the pyramid and the linear geoglyph constitute part of a single architectural complex, with potential cosmological significance, that ritualized the entire pampa landscape." (The word "pampa" stands for plain.)

The flattop pyramid is 16 feet (5 m) high and was built sometime between 600 B.C. and 50 B.C., being reoccupied somewhere between A.D. 200 and 400. Finds near the pyramid include textiles, shells and ceramics. The stone lines were constructed at some point between 500 B.C. and A.D. 400.

Lines, settlements and pyramids

But this discovery is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. Researchers have found about 50 of these stone lines so far in a flat, dry area near the pyramid. The longest of the lines runs for nearly a mile (about 1,500 m). These lines are straight and made out of rock, unlike the Nazca Lines in southern Peru which were etched into the earth by removing the topsoil and include depictions of animals and plants.

Interspersed with these lines, researchers have also found more than 200 cairns (rock piles). The biggest of these cairns is about 50 feet (15 m) in diameter. Cairns can be found throughout the world and sometimes contain human burials, the examples found here, however, do not.

The stone lines and cairns appear to be connected with nearby settlements and their pyramids. There are four ancient settlements close to them, two of which have large pyramids and one that has a mound. The settlements would have supported populations in the high hundreds or just over 1,000.

"Many of the lines do lead to the pyramids; most lead to within the area of the pyramid," said Charles Stanish, a professor at UCLA's Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, in an interview with LiveScience.

"We did a statistical analysis, and it is statistically significant— it couldn't have been by random chance that they do cluster on these settlements," he said, noting that there are a few lines that don't lead to settlements.

Stanish said that the discovery of ancient lines leading to pyramids in Peru is important. "We have lines that run to pyramid complexes, and that's significant, because in the big Nazca pampa and in the Palpa pampa, we don't find that pattern as obvious." These two areas, Nazca and Palpa, contain lines, etched in earth, that depict various motifs, including animals and plants.

Future exploration

The team has only completed one field season at the site and will be heading back this summer to continue their work. They plan to excavate at the Cerro del Gentil pyramid and search for more stone lines.

"We're also going to do a systematic survey of a fairly large area to find all the other lines and all the other settlements and features," Stanish said. They also plan to dig test pits in structures associated with the lines to try to determine precisely when they were built.

One problem the team faces is that time is against them. "A lot of them [the stone lines] are being destroyed by construction," said Stanish, explaining that modern-day power and gas lines are being built in the area, jeopardizing the ancient stone lines that have stood for well over a millennia.

"Ring of Babies" Buried in Peruvian Tomb

From The National Geographic
A totally misleading headline: 

Pictures: Huge Peru Tomb Found—80 Bodies, Ring of Babies

Bundled Bodies

Photograph courtesy Université libre de Bruxelles

The adult dead in the newfound tomb were found in the fetal position, which may have represented "some kind of rebirth" to the Ychsma, excavation leader Eeckhout said.

About half the bodies in the tomb belonged to babies—signaling either ritual sacrifice or that they'd "died from natural causes and then were deposited in some place until the moment of the foundation of that tomb," Eeckhout said.

Physical evidence of sacrifice, he added, may be hard to spot on the tiny corpses, particularly in cases of suffocation. Signs of sacrifice have been found in the past on very well preserved Pachacamac infant remains, he added. "But in this case it is absolutely not sure."

There's no doubt, though, that animals were sacrificed, Eeckhout said. Guinea pigs appear to have been the favored offerings, but dogs and parts of llamas or alpacas have also been recovered from the tomb.

So, even though they ABSOLUTELY are not sure, the caption to the photo still reads "Mummy bundles, child sacrifices found on pyramid."  Nice disclaimer, dudes.

Article about the ongoing excavations at Pachacamac. 

Peruvian Desert Once a Breadbasket

Once again, evidence of how very fragile some of our ecosystems are...

From Discovery News
Analysis by Tim Wall
Tue Aug 16, 2011 06:06 AM ET

What do the characters in The Grapes of Wrath, Icelandic shepherds in the Middle Ages and ancient Peruvians have in common? They all suffered from the effects of intensive agriculture on sensitive environments.

Throughout human history unsustainable agricultural practices have turned fragile ecosystems into wastelands and left people starving. During the Dust Bowl, American farmers learned the consequences of removing the deep rooted grasses from the Great Plains when the soil blew away in tremendous dust storms. Icelandic shepherds learned that the sheep rearing practices their ancestors used on the European mainland destroyed the thin soils of their island and left them with starving herds and little to eat.

The ancient inhabitants of what is now Peru also learned the unhappy consequences of farming in a delicate ecosystem. The Ica Valley, near the coast of southern Peru and the famous Nazca lines, is now a barren desert, but was once a fertile floodplain, anchored by the roots of the huarango tree.

People were able to raise a variety of crops there for several centuries. But intensive agriculture in pre-conquest times led to ecosystem collapse. The history of the land was recently reconstructed by bioarcheologist David Beresford-Jones of the University of Cambridge by looking at plant remains left in ancient garbage heaps.

Beresford-Jones and a team of archeologists studied plant remains associated with settlement sites spanning roughly 750 B.C. to 1000 A.D. They observed the change as the valley inhabitants went from eating mostly gathered foods, to a period of intense agriculture, then back again to surviving on what they could eke out of nature's diminished bounty.

"The farmers inadvertently crossed an ecological threshold and the changes became irreversible," says Dr. David Beresford-Jones of the University of Cambridge.

Farming the Ica Valley was possible because of the huarango tree woodland, which literally held the floodplain together. The roots of the tree physically anchored the soils and protected the ground from erosion. The trees also maintained fertility by fixing nitrogen from the air and keeping moisture in the soil.

But as more land was cleared for crop production, so much of the woodland was cleared that the huarango's benefits were lost. The land was then exposed to floods from El Niño events and strong winds parched the land when it wasn't flooded.

Clearing the land of trees in order to grow crops had inadvertently and ironically made it impossible to grow crops.

Earlier residents of the valley had survived largely on land snails, along with sea urchins and mussels gathered from the Pacific coast, an eight-hour walk to the west. The researchers found no evidence of domesticated crops in the refuse heaps, called middens, left by these early inhabitants.

Things started to change around 100 B.C. Remains from crops, including pumpkins, maize, and manioc tubers, began appearing in the garbage heaps. Within a few hundred years there was more intensive agriculture. People added beans, peanuts, and chili peppers to their menus.

The feast didn't last long though. After about 500 years of agriculture, the domesticated crops disappeared. People once again survived on only snails and seafood with some wild plants.

In less than two thousand years, the people went full circle and ended up eating what their ancestors had, but without the huarango forests. To this day, the land is barren, with only the ghostly outlines of irrigation canals to suggest that the land once supported an agrarian society.

Further evidence of the change is found in the disappearance of the use of a blue dye from the indigofera shrub. The shrub grows only in the shelter of huarango trees along waterways. The peoples of the Ica Valley frequently sported clothes dyed a rich blue between 100 and 400 A.D. But as agriculture increased, the use of the dye decreased, suggesting the indigofera's habitat was also disappearing. Seeds from the shrub also became rare in the archeological record.

The indigofera eventually disappeared from the lower Ica Valley, but other plants became more common. Grasses that thrive in open areas became more common as the trees were cut down. Weeds that sprout in soil disturbed by agriculture also became more common.

The study of land use in the Ica Valley was recently published in the journal Vegetation History and Archaeobotany.

The peoples of the Ica Valley are not the only Peruvians to suffer from the effects of deforestation. The hills around Lima, Peru were once covered in huarango trees as well. The trees captured the fog from the ocean and fed local aquifers. But after the Spanish conquest, the trees were cut and the hills went dry.

Exciting Intact Pre-Inca Tomb Uncovered in Peru

From itv.com

Pre-Inca tomb found
9.00AM Sun Jul 17 2011
Peruvian archaeologists working in the north of the country say they've found an unspoiled tomb from the Lambayeque culture.

Initial studies indicate that the tomb belonged to a priest-like individual who performed human sacrifices during fertility ceremonies. [The article does not explain how this conclusion was reached.]

"He has with him, as offerings, three copper knives, some metal objects, a skirt made of circular copper sheets," says Fausto Saldana, an archaeologist working at the Huaca Chotuna site.
Archaeologists who have been working at Huaca Chotuna for three years say it's the first time they've discovered such a figure - and in such a well-preserved state.

Saldana and his colleagues also discovered a number of pieces of ceramic and pottery, including pots and jars, and the remains of three other individuals.

They said the tomb dates back to 1350-1400.

The Lambayeque culture - also known as the Sican culture - predated the Inca and inhabited what is now the north coast of Peru between about 750 and 1400.
By: ITV News

Incredible Find In Peruvian Highlands

I had not heard of these "ancestor stones" before this article.  An absolutely incredible and priceless find!

From the guardian.co.uk
Peru: 'sensational' Inca find for British team in AndesDiscovery of sacred ancestor stones has archaeologists 'dancing a jig'
Dalya Alberge
The Observer, Sunday 5 December 2010

A British team of archaeologists on expedition in the Peruvian Andes has hailed as "sensational" the discovery of some of the most sacred objects in the Inca civilisation – three "ancestor stones", which were once believed to form a precious link between the heavens and the underworld.

The find, which was made on an isolated Andean mountainside, provoked joy among local specialists and the experts present from, among others, the British Museum, Reading University and Royal Holloway, University of London. No examples of the stones were thought to have survived until now.

"It was a very moving moment," said Dr Colin McEwan, the British Museum's head of the Americas, as he recalled seeing the stones for the first time.

Dr Frank Meddens, research associate of Royal Holloway, who was also on the expedition, said they had "danced a little jig on top of the mountain" after discovering the objects that they had only read about in 16th-century Spanish documents.

The Incas would have been just as overawed. The conical-shaped stones were among the most significant items in Inca society and religion. Key elements in ritual events, they were thought to facilitate a connection between different realms of the world – the celestial and the underworld of the ancestors – with the Inca king, as the divine ruler, acting as intermediary. And they were considered more precious than gold.

"This is a whole new category of object. It is nothing short of sensational," said McEwan of the three stones in red and white Andesite, a hard, granite-like rock, which were excavated some 2.5 metres beneath an Inca stone platform. The platform too was recently excavated and is a structure of distinctive stonework that once symbolised the imperial control of conquered territories.

The site – at Incapirca Waminan – is one of 20 undocumented high-altitude Inca ceremonial platforms explored by the archaeologists around the Ayacucho basin. Such sites were potent imperial symbols of religious and political authority as the Incas expanded outwards from Cuzco, a sacred city of temples and palaces in the central Peruvian Andes.

Ancestor stones represented deities, ancestors and the sun, and were imbued with supreme symbolic significance. They were greeted with incomprehension by Spanish chroniclers of the early 16th century, who sacrilegiously likened their shape to sugar loaves, pineapples and bowling pins. The insult, however, was returned: when the 16th-century Inca ruler Atahualpa was shown a copy of the Bible by the Conquistadors, he reacted with similar contempt.

According to Spanish sources, the stones were used in public solar rituals, sometimes draped in gold cloth and paraded. One witness wrote: "The stones… were held to be blessed and sacred."

Symbols of the ancestral essence of the Inca king, the objects were placed on display when the supreme leader was absent from Cuzco, the capital of the Inca people, in an attempt to demonstrate the perpetual presence and his power. The Incas believed their king to be a living god who ruled by divine right.



I believe this is the cocha from the British Museum which depicts the ancestor stone - look underneath the sun figure,
you wil see two kneeling people facing a conical shaped object that looks like it has a face carved into it -
this may be the piece the article refers to.  I could not locate any other representations online.

 As the Incas had no system of writing, the significance of the archaeologists' unprecedented find is reinforced by the identification of ancestor stones in the decoration of a unique 16th-century Inca vessel (cocha) in the British Museum. Spanning 50cm in diameter, it bears a carved scene showing a central solar disc and two kneeling figures with their hands clasped as they honour an ancestor stone. They are flanked on either side by an Inca king and queen and high-ranking lords.

The Incas created a huge empire that stretched more than 2,400 miles along the length of the Andes and whose economy was based on taxed labour, with its people farming and herding animals, working in mines and producing goods such as clothing and pottery.

The sites for ceremonial platforms were chosen for their vistas of the snow-capped peaks, which were worshipped as mountain deities. It was at such sites that the Incas sacrificed children – the ceremony of capacocha – at moments of potential instability.

These structures also had sacred central spaces known as the ushnu, with a vertical opening into "the body of the earth" into which libations such as maize beer were poured. The ushnu platforms served as a stage from which the Inca king and his lords could preside over seasonal festivals and ceremonies.

Friday Night Miscellany

My old desktop upstairs has got an issue - I think it's called something like a repeating loop and I cannot get the home page to open up (yahoo.com).  It started two nights ago but eventually I was able to get it to the New York Times and after that I was able to get back to yahoo and everything was fine.  I did the same thing last night but tonight I could not get to any alternate url no matter what I tried.  So I have to cut this short and do some googling to find out what the heck I can do to fix the problem. 

Archaeologically, Peru is an amazing country.  There is not a month that goes by without some new discovery coming out of Peru.  It was the site of Caral, which was as old as some of the settlements in the Indus Valley, Mesopotamia and Egypt.  I have done lots of blog posts about discoveries in Peru.  So it doesn't surprise me that its residents approximately 8,000 years ago were getting high on coca leaves!
1 December 2010 Last updated at 21:20 ET
Coca leaves first chewed 8,000 years ago, says research

Another ancient site plundered in Iran and the government does the same old, same old "What site?  There is no site.  What pictures?  What farmer?  What complaint?  And by the way, any archaeologist who talks to the press will lose his job and be barred from working again in Iran.  And we'll get your little dog, too..."
From the CAIS (Circle of Iranian Studies) site
Smugglers discovered and plundered a Parthian Dynastic site in Masjed-Soleiman
Friday, 03 December 2010 13:07
LONDON, (CAIS) -- Smugglers in search of treasures in an area known as Shanzdah-Maylee (Šānzdah-Māylē / sixteen-mile) have discovered and plundered an ancient tappeh (archaeological mound) in a depth of four meters, according to a recent report by the Persian service of Mehr News Agency.

Archaeological vandals aren't limited to the Old World, they're here in force in the New World, too.
Entertainment
2,300-Year-old Maya ruins destroyed for pastureland
Published December 03, 2010
| EFE
Mexico City – An ancient Mayan residential complex some 2,300 years old was destroyed by heavy machinery in the southeastern Mexican state of Yucutan to clear the land for pasture on a private ranch, officials told Efe.

According to experts at the National Anthropology and History Institute, or INAH, the Maya site near the town of Chicxulub dates to the 300 B.C. Preclassical Period and is registered as No. 15 in the Yucutan archaeological catalog.

"The presence of remains were previously known in the area and for that reason INAH will act quickly," the communications chief of the public institute, Julio Castrejon, said.

Yeah, right - and what are you going to do now? The site is GONE, dude.

Okay, got to go.  Need to get the desktop upstairs moving again so I can work on Chess Femme News - they'll be games to report from the Women's World Chess Championship tomorrow.

Peru Geoglyphs Slideshow

Check out this fascinating slideshow display. Mostly I saw bird's heads - lots of birds' heads.  In picture 7, what IS that orange-colored figure in the lower right hand area???  A stylized scorpion?  Something else?  I did not see a serpent in that image, despite the hint that it's eye was a lake and its forked tongue was two rivers.  Just did not see it.

So - are they there - or are we (the viewers) just imagining things, like seeing images in the clouds that are there for some moments and then disappear and form into something else?  One thing is certain, if there is anything there, it will soon be gone forever, wiped out by modern encroachment. 

And if there is something there, how the hell did they do it??? These images, if images they are, can only be recognized from on high.  What kind of technology did they utilize to create the birds' heads, and whatever other figures are there?  Would not the construction of the figures entail some very sophisticated mathematical calculations and surveying skills, in addition to directing an army of workers on a scale to rival those put to work building the pyramids and other great monuments in ancient Egypt?

We still have so much to learn!

Peru Geoglyphs: Slide Show
by Rossella Lorenzi, Discovery News
Oct. 14, 2010 -- Amelia Carolina Sparavigna, assistant professor at the department of physics of Turin's Polytechnic University used Google satellite maps and AstroFracTool, an astronomical image-processing program which she developed, to investigate over 463 square miles of land around Peru's Titicaca Lake.

Enhanced satellite imagery suggest that some land forms were not only the remains of extensive agricultural systems, but also designs made to represent birds, snakes and other animals.

Amelia Carolina Sparavigna
Read the full story. 

New Pyramid Discovered in Peru

On the 19th I posted about a new pyramid discovered in a southern state of Mexico.  Now this article on a new pyramid discovered in Peru.  Are they in a contest or something?

New pyramid discovered in Peru linked to ancient copper industry
By Owen Jarus
Friday, 21 May 2010

A team of archaeologists who uncovered a 1,400 year old pyramid in Peru say that the finding is particularly unusual. The flat-topped pyramid, which was built by the Moche culture, was used for the living rather than just for the dead, and contains a wealth of artefacts, murals and human remains.

The pyramid was discovered at Huaca Colorada, which translates as ‘coloured hill’. Excavation leader Professor Edward Swenson, of the University of Toronto, describes how he suspected that the area may be archaeologically significant. “I knew it was more than a natural hill – this was modified.”

Swenson’s hunch paid off. With the pyramid so far only partially uncovered, archaeologists have already made remarkable discoveries. “Our biggest surprise was that at the top of this pyramid construction we found elite residences”, said Prof Swenson, who added that it is very unusual to find pyramids used in this way. The Moche are known to have used pyramids for burials and ritual activity rather than everyday living.

The living complex would have housed no more than 25 people, and was complete with patios, a kitchen, and stands for ‘paica’ – large vessels for storing water and corn beer. The team also identified a bin used to hold guinea pigs: “The preservation was so good that we actually came across guinea pig coprolites (faeces).”

Several murals covered the corridors at the pyramid's summit. The best-preserved of these depicts a Moche warrior - who Swenson describes as looking “like a Smurf” - carrying a club. Other murals include a depiction of what appears to be a cactus with two mountain peaks and a rainbow, and a representation of two litter-bearers carrying a person.

Evidence of ritual sacrifice was also discovered at the site. The skeletons of three adolescent girls, and body parts belonging to four other individuals, were found on a platform at the top of the pyramid. The girls were buried with beads around their neck and their feet were close together, suggesting that they had been bound. Charring on the girls' knees indicate that their bodies were subject to “ritualistic burning.”

This evidence raises the possibility that the girls were sacrificed as part of a ritual, something not uncommon among the Moche. However physical anthropologists examining the skeletons could find no evidence of trauma. This means the girls either died naturally or were killed in such a way that no evidence was left on their bones. “It’s possible they were sacrificed but we don’t know,” adds Prof Swenson. [Oh for goddesssake, haven't these people ever heard of poison?]

To the south of the pyramid the team found a large number of copper artefacts including spatulas, knives, smelting receptacles and ornaments. “I’ve never found such a high quantity of copper,” says Swenson. “The power of these elites could very much have been grounded in control of copper production.”

Huaca Colorada is near the coast of Peru where copper is scarce, so the site’s rulers would have had to trade with people living in the mountains, at least 200km to the east. Swenson speculates that the rulers “may have been considered lords – but lords of a particular kind – in transforming ore into finished products”. Alternatively, says Swenson, there could have been a “corporation of co-operating but high status practitioners.”

Huaca Colorada appears to be undefended. Swenson said the team found “no walls, no sling-stones... unlike many of the sites built on the coastal hills.” The area surrounding the settlement was mostly flat, and would have offered little resistance from invaders. There was certainly warfare in the Moche world, but perhaps, for some unknown reason, Huaca Colorada and its pyramid were off-limits to invaders. “It’s kind of like (the) open city of Rome in World War II,” says Swenson. “I don’t know exactly what’s going on.”

Excavation work continues at the site, and researchers will conduct a GPR survey on the pyramid this summer to determine its size.

Shaman Tomb Discovered in Peru

Wow. It seems like Peru is in the archaeological news at least once a week. Note that two burials are reported in this article. More news from enperublog.com: Tomb of 800 year old shaman discovered January 23, 2010 Curandero – witch-doctor or medicine-man in English, but the most direct translation is healer. The tradition of the curanderos still runs strong in the Muchik northern coast of La Libertad and Lambayeque, particularly around Chiclayo. The traditions and techniques of theses healers date back to pre-Colombian times and the the civilisations of the Chimú, Sicán and the Moche before them. Archaeologists have recently been given a glimpse into this period of time with the discovery of the 800 year old tomb of a Sicán curandero. The curandero was found alongside 500 nectandra seeds, considered aphrodisiacs, at the archaeological complex of La Pava de Mochumí near Lambayeque’s Valley of Pyramids near Túcume. The seeds were contained in a ceramic vase that was discovered first and convinced archaeologists to keep digging. They eventually discovered the curandero along with a fan-shaped shell for smoking, mates burilados, textiles, a ceramic jug and a wooden staff. Then then discovered another burial from the same time period, again with objects, such as quartz stone and ceramics, that indicated his relative importance. Director of the Brüning Museum in Lambayeque, Carlos Wester, states that the discoveries of the curandero and the person of medium authority indicate the intense level cultural, artistic, technological and religious activities that were taking place in the Mochumí sector of the vast archaeological region. The curandero, according to experts in pre-Inca Lambayeque, was not only charged with healing, but was also a medium through which to communicated with the gods. Peru has destined 1.5 million soles, about 540,000 dollars, to archaeological investigations in the region which over various centuries was home to the Moche, Chimú and Sicán.

Elite Female Burial Uncovered in Cahuachi, Peru

From the en Peru blog (unfortunately, not dated, but it was posted at Archaeologica today): Priestess of Cahuachi Tomb discovered of an elite child dating to the early Nasca Period. With the mummy were various pieces of jewellery made from gold, silver and precious stones. Paying for a guardian out of his own pocket for 27 years turned out to be worth it for the Italian archaeologists Giuseppe Orefici, director of the Nasca Project. Not reimbursed by his supervisors in Italy nor (shamefully but all too predictably) by the Peruvian state, it is thanks to the Italian’s dedication at the heavily tomb-raided ceremonial city of Cahuachi, a expansive adobe city of countless buried pyramids, that a recent discovery was able to be made. Discovered in a recent dig was the mummy of a young priestess, a member of the elite, with several precious items dating from the period of 300-450A.D., the most important period at what, if unburied, is said to be the world’s largest adobe city. According to Orefici, the girl must have been important. She would have been between 12 and 14 at her time of death and was found inside a series of rooms between the Great Pyramid and what is known as the Orange Pyramid. The building would have formed a small temple that had 4 columns holding up its roof. The archaeologists had to remove a layer or reeds and ropes that covered the burial. The body appeared to have been painted and found with an additional vertebra added. She also had slightly deformed forearms, apparently something self-inflicted by having the arms extended vertically for long periods of time – perhaps as a result of a praying. She was wrapped in finely woven fabric that had patterns of orcas (killer whales) found in the southern pacific and contained obsidian arrow heads. But the most impressive items are the jewels found in the bundle. Of these one in particular stands out; a spectacular golden nose ring bathed in silver, which was found on her nose when uncovered. Also found were necklaces and bracelets of precious spondylus shells among other precious items. Curiously there were also dozens of heads of birds of prey with their beaks tied closed with fine strings, just some accompanied by their full bodies. Also found were a number of ceramic items, finely decorated with geometric patterns. Although there is much to discover about the supposed priestess, researchers have begun the journey decipher the meaning of the burial objects. The find has been taken to the city of Nazca where it is being studied by anthropologist and physicist Andrea Drusini from the University of Padua. Meanwhile, Oferici will continue to pay the guardian of the site himself, the only way to guarantee the preservation of the temples where most probably more spectacular finds will be made – by archaeologists, not by tomb-robbers.

A Woman Born to Rule

From enperu blog Lady of Pacopampa: A woman born to rule Date posted - unknown - I saw it today (October 20, 2009) By Stuart Starrs After three years of work in the town of Pacopampa, a team of archaeologists led by Yuji Seki have found the outlines of an ancient temple that would have formed part of a larger complex located 20 minutes from the modern town of the same name. But far more impressive is what they’ve found buried inside the temple. The team discovered the tomb of a woman, whose social position quickly became evident. On the highest terrace of the San Pedro mountain in what is today Chota in Cajamarca, the birth of a girl began what was to be a new episode of the Formative Period some 3000 years ago. Born in the archaeological complex that we now call San Pedro de Pacopampa, the healthy baby girl would be raised to one day lead her people. This is the conclusion arrived at by Yuji Seki, lead archaeologist from the National University of Ethnology in Osaka, Japan. More...

Chanca/Wari Ruins Found in Peru

This is a very good example of sacred places/sacred spaces in the New World: Article from andina.com.pe Pre-Hispanic ruins found in Virgin of Cocharcas shrine’s subsoil in Apurimac Lima, Sep. 21 (ANDINA).- The ruins of a pre-Hispanic ceremonial site were discovered in the subsoil of Virgin of Cocharcas shrine in Apurimac’s Chincheros province, local authorities reported Monday. Pedro Fernandez Diaz, deputy director of works from the National Institute of Culture (INC) in Cuzco, explained that they are pre-Hispanic walls and a ceremonial building similar to an altar, where possibly offerings were made to divinities. He added that the pre-Hispanic ruins would be from chanca architecture with Wari influence. The excavations were carried out in the radius or perimeter fence of the sanctuary, in the free area or gardens, Fernandez told Andina news agency. Likewise, two crypts with bones of important people of that colonial period, as priests and leading citizens were also found in the shrine. The temple is located in Cocharcas district, northwest of Apurimac, whose main festival is celebrated on September 8 of each year with a massive pilgrimage. (END) VVS/JOT/AVC

Polychrome Mural Found at Chotuna

[Photograph: Archaeologist Carlos Wester shows polychrome mural found at Chotuna archaeological complex. Photo: ANDINA / Silvia Depaz.] Story from Andina.com.pe Polychrome mural found in archaeological complex of Chotuna Chiclayo, Sep. 30 (ANDINA).- A polychrome mural was found in the facade of a ceremonial temple located in the northern part of the Chotuna archaeological complex, 10 miles west of Lambayeque city, which features friezes with circular designs and the anthropomorphic wave, icon of Lambayeque’s culture. The religious building dates from 9th and 10th centuries AD, corresponding to the Lambayeque culture, said the leader of excavations at the Chotuna-Chornancap camp, Carlos Wester, who presented the findings today. According to Wester, a platform emerged only after the systematic removal of a dune higher than 15 meters. Evidences of polychrome surfaces -with red and cream colored chess designs- were found at the north facing top level of this platform. (Emphasis added) "These were the first signs of the mural’s discovery, which encouraged us to continue excavations where, months later, we could find a structure featuring friezes with circular designs," he said. Last year, a group of 11 skeletons of sacrificed women was discovered in the Huaca Norte, located at the archeological complex of Huaca Chotuna. (END)SDC/JOT/RMB

Child Burials Found in Peru

My guess is that they were human sacrifices to the Goddess of the Mountain, but I know nothing :) Human Archeological Remains Found in Sacsayhuamán LivinginPeru.com Katrina Heimark September 8, 2009 (Note: Please ignore the photograph that was embedded in the article. It depicts a length-wise human burial, not a fetal-position burial as was mentioned in the article. I don't understand why authors and/or editors DO this kind of thing without tagging it as baloney!) Remains of two children, estimated to be between 12 and 13 at the time of their death, were found within the Archeological park of Sacsayhuamán, next to the huaca Qowiqarana. They were placed in the fetal position and were facing the Apu Huanacaure, one of mountains that dominates the landscape around Cusco. The children were found buried with a small stone model of the hilltops that surround the Huanacaure, as well as painted vessel. Luis Guevara, the archeologist in charge of the excavation managed by Cusco’s National Cultural Institute, states that “the cult of the Apu Huanacuare was founded by the Inca Pachacúteq. As we know, this mountain was considered by the Incas, and by today’s population, to be sacred because it is associated with the foundation of Cusco.” The huaca consists of a large rock that sticks out of the slope. According to Guevara, a secondary path crossed through this area, which connected to the path of the Antisuyo. Experts believe that this huaca is associated with the Apu Huanacaure cult because from its top, one can observe the mountain in its entire splendor. I do not have a tentative date on these remains, as I am not familiar with the cultures mentioned in the article. Actually, other than some specialists, who is???

Mochica Culture Burial Discovered in Peru

26 August, 2009 [ 10:26 ] Peru: Ancient tomb discovered at Huaca Rajada LivinginPeru.com Isabel Guerra Peruvian archaeologists discovered at Huaca Rajada site some remains that might belong to a Mochica nobleman or to a warrior, in the northern Peruvian department of Lambayeque. Walter Alva, the Lord of Sipan's discoverer, said that this could be the oldest ancestor of Sipan Dynasty discovered so far, thus it will be exhibited at site museum. "The remains will be kept at Huaca Rajada museum, since it was built for that purpose. The remaining finds will be progressively installed once restoration is completed. All this is important for understanding the history of this monument," he said. The Lord of Sipan was found here in 1987, and if the recent findings are proven to be part of a dinasty, then it would also confirm that Sipan was part of a series of sanctuaries built during the emergence of Mochica culture.

Another Female Sacrifice Found in Peru

Remains of sacrificed woman found in indigenous citadel in Peru Posted July 14, 2009 From Earthtimes.org Lima - Archeologists in northern Peru have found the remains of a woman who was apparently killed in a 15th-century sacrifice to calm the wrath of nature. The find was made in Chan Chan, the oldest mud citadel in the Americas, archaeologist Raul Sosaya said Tuesday. The expert said the skeleton corresponded to a woman who was 1.55 metres tall and aged about 17. She died around the year 1460 and belonged to the Chimu culture. Archaeologists found the body as they were working on the restoration of the outer walls of Chan Chan, around 600 kilometres north of Lima. Sosaya said that one of the woman's feet had been amputated before she was hanged and her body thrown out near a wall. The gestures on her face suggest that she screamed before she died, and archaeologists think that she was sacrificed. From what researchers know of the Chimu culture, the amputation of a foot was meant to prevent the sacrificed person from leaving the site in later lives. "The ancient Chimus conjured themselves to ask that the rain stop. Today we have the evidence of a sacrifice that sought that climate phenomena did not destroy the monument," said Cristobal Campana, the head of the team of archaeologists. About 40 per cent of the infrastructure of the Chan Chan site turned to mud in 1982-1983, due to rains from the climate phenomenon known as El Nino. Copyright, respective author or news agency

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How closely connected are the Chimu to the Inca? Are they not connected at all? Was there cross-cultural contact between Chimu and Inca and if so, when did it start and for how long did it continue? Can any comparisons be made between this Chimu sacrifice and the sacrifice of the 33 people, who were mostly female and mostly children and teenagers, who were sacrificed by the Inca that I have posted about previously?

Earthtimes.org article: One 16-17 year old female

July 13, 2009: Follow-up on Those 33 Mummies Found in Peru

June 7, 2009: Gruesome Evidence of Inca Human Sacrifice

Follow-Up on Those 33 Mummies Found in Peru

We already knew this, but this article gives more specifics about the 33 mummies, the majority of which were young females, who were sacrificed. Peru mummies 'were human sacrifices' 13 July 2009 02:10:00 PM Source: AP/SBS Utah University professor Haagen Klaus is an expert in bio-archaeology and has been analysing and examining the human remains found in 2007 at the Chotuna Huaca, a site located north east of Chiclayo. "(The) majority of them were sacrificed using a very sharp bladed instrument, probably a copper or bronze tummy knife. And for the majority there are a several combinations, complex set of variations on cutting of the throat, " Mr Klaus said. Sacrifices were made "to make sure that there would still be rain and agricultural fertility", Klaus explained. What made the discovery so unusual in the eyes of the experts was that most of the mummies were females. "The blood sacrifice of a large group of women is something that is very, very unusual, it is the first time we have ever seen this", Mr Klaus said. In fact, 30 of the 33 bodies were female and according to Klaus they were all very young when they were sacrificed. The majority hadn't reached 15-years-old and some of the mummies were children no older than nine. Professor Klaus explained that in Andean society children weren't considered human beings. "Children are not human beings because human life comes from mountains. And when a child is born, a child is likened to a wild uncontrollable mountain spirit," Klaus said. [If this is true, when did a "child" become an "adult" in this culture? One of the sacrificed victims was pregnant, according to an earlier report. Isn't that evidence of being an "adult?"] In an excellent state of conservation, many still with their hair and teeth intact, the mummies have provided endless study material for Klaus. He was able to extract DNA, learn about the illnesses they had, their diets, their ages, causes of death and even possible kinships among the mummies.

Gruesome Evidence of Inca Human Sacrifice

Why were the majority of the victims girls, around 15 years of age??? And was the number of victims - 33 - significant? From Yahoo News Peru finds human sacrifices from Inca civilization Thu Jun 4, 4:20 pm ET LIMA (Reuters) – Researchers at an archeological site in northern Peru have made an unusually large discovery of nearly three dozen people sacrificed some 600 years ago by the Incan civilization. The bodies, some of which show signs of having been cut along their necks and collarbones, were otherwise found in good condition, said Carlos Webster, who is leading excavations at the Chotuna-Chornancap camp. The sprawling 235-acre (95-hectare) archeological site is 12 miles outside the coastal city of Chiclayo, near the ancient tomb of Sipan, which was one of the great finds of the last century. The sacrifices were made just decades before Spanish explorers arrived in what is now Peru. Although archeologists regularly find evidence of human sacrifice from Incan and pre-Incan cultures, it is rare to find the remains of 33 people in one place, researchers said. Scientists say human sacrifice was common within the Incan culture, which flourished immediately before the arrival of the Spanish in what is now parts of Peru, Chile and Ecuador between 1400 and the mid-1500s. "Most of the remains belong to young women, around 15 years of age. One of them appears to have been pregnant because in her abdomen, the collarbone of a fetus, probably around 4 months, was found," Webster said of the latest find, made over the past year and a half. "The majority (of the bodies) are in good condition -- skin tissues and hair have been preserved. They were found in a dry area more than 7 feet underground," he said. Incan civilization is best known for its capital city, Machu Picchu, the ruins of which are Peru's top tourist destination and considered one of the new seven wonders of the world. (Reporting by Marco Aquino; Writing by Dana Ford; Editing by Peter Cooney)

New Rock Art Discovered at Machu Picchu

From the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette: UCA professor finds ancient rock painting in Peru BY DEBRA HALE-SHELTON Posted on Friday, April 17, 2009 (Photo: Special to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/REINALDO MORALES JR. Reinaldo "Dito" Morales Jr., an assistant professor of art history at the University of Central Arkansas, will formally announce his finding of an ancient painting at Peru's Machu Picchu at next week's annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology in Atlanta.) CONWAY - A University of Central Arkansas professor said Thursday that he has discovered an ancient rock painting at an Inca burial site in the Peruvian Andes and believes the work could be anywhere from 500 to 2,000 years old. Tens of thousands of tourists each year pass the nearly 50-foot rock at Machu Picchu, a site scientists have studied for nearly a century. But apparently no one has paid attention to the barely visible painting, said Reinaldo "Dito" Morales Jr., assistant professor of art history. Morales is to announce his finding formally April 24 at the annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology in Atlanta. Morales, 45, first saw the rock art in 2000 when he was a graduate student. At the time, he said, "I figured [that] this place is so famous, surely everyone knows about it." But after he later obtained funding to return to Peru in December 2008, he began digging into the area's art history. "I've been scouring every journal, book, any kind of publication that discusses Machu Picchu or the rock art there" and haven't found even a mention of this work, he said. The black painting - likely done with charcoal or the mineral manganese - is partly obscured by a calcium deposit, which Morales said could take hundreds of years or longer to form. No one really knows what the painting depicts or who created it. But when a drawing of it is su- perimposed upon a photograph Morales took, the painting appears to be "some kind of animal imagery," said James Farmer, an associate professor and chairman of the art history department at Virginia Commonwealth University, where Morales did his doctoral dissertation. Morales said, "I don't know if it's supposed to represent something or if it's just some sort of abstract geometrical marks. That's the question of the century for rock-art studies." Farmer, who has traveled to Peru since the discovery and saw the drawing, said, "Someone probably has seen this [painting in the past], but ... what is significant ... is that no one has ever really paid much attention to it if, in fact, they had seen it. ... Apparently, [Morales is] the first modern person who certainly noticed it and brought it to the attention of anybody. "It's very easy to miss," Farmer said. "Even knowing where it was, I had to go up there and look for it. It doesn't jump out at you. It's hard to locate, and it's hard to see." Art historians already knew of engravings at Machu Picchu. But Morales said, "This is the very first painting ever documented at Machu Picchu." Historians believe Pachacuti, the Incas' first emperor, built Machu Picchu as a royal winter retreat in the Andean mountains in about 1450. Morales and Farmer believe the work predates the Incas' presence at Machu Picchu, which translates to big mountain or big peak. Morales said he's convinced the image is not of Incan origin "because Incan art is typically dominated by rectilinear geometric patterns, whereas this painting is primarily curvilinear." Farmer said the painting "stylistically looks rather similar to other rock-art traditions ... that we know are much earlier. "Just in terms of what the image appears to represent, it just doesn't look very Inca," he added. "You could be talking about something that dates back to 5000 B.C.," Farmer said. "It is stylistically similar to some other things in the Andes" from that time. But some parts of the painting are in goodenough condition that it might be just 500 years old, he said. While it's probably not Inca in origin, the question of "whom we would assign origin to is going to be a much more difficult question to grapple with," Farmer said. "I think that would be sort of the first wave of research." Because Morales does not want to risk damaging the work, he has not even touched the painting. "It's not worth ruining, just for temporary satisfaction," he said. Carbon dating, which would involve scraping off a tiny piece of the work, would ruin that small portion and might not even work if there's not enough organic material to test, Morales said. The International Congress of Rock Art has accepted a paper Morales wrote about the discovery and will meet this summer in Brazil.

Peruvian King of Bling

Article from the National Geographic News: "King of Bling" Tomb Sheds Light on Ancient Peru Kelly Hearn and Ted Chamberlainfor National Geographic News April 10, 2009 Image: Found in a treasure-filled tomb of the Moche culture in Peru in June 2008, this 1,500-year-old gilded-copper-and-seashell funerary mask was one of two that shielded the face of the so-called Lord of Ucupe. As in his tomb, the Lord of Ucupe in life would have been covered nearly head to toe in shining metal, so as to dazzle and distract his subjects—"This is the king of bling, literally," one archaeologist says.Photograph courtesy Dr. Steve Bourget Packed with treasure in the styles of two ancient orders, the 1,500-year-old tomb of the Moche Indian "king of bling" is like no other, according to archaeologist Steve Bourget. Discovered in Peru at the base of an eroded mud-brick pyramid, the tomb gradually yielded its contents last summer. Among the finds: 19 golden headdresses, various pieces of jewelry, and two funerary masks, as well as skeletons of two other men and a pregnant woman. (View photographs of the Moche find.) The tomb's mysterious contents and location—far from known Moche capitals—could shed new light on this little-known culture of Peru's arid northern coast, said Bourget, of the University of Texas at Austin. Thriving between A.D. 100 and 800, the highly agricultural Moche Indians are known in large part by their stepped pyramids, jewelry-filled tombs, and exquisite pottery and art. (See related pictures of Moche tombs from National Geographic magazine.) Lord of Ucupe Located some 475 miles (750 kilometers) north of Lima, the new-found tomb was found at the base of Huaca el Pueblo, a mud-brick, stepped pyramid that has eroded into a high, round mound. The Lord of Ucupe—as locals have come to call the entombed Moche leader—was in his early thirties when he died, Bourget said. For entombment, the lord was dressed in full regalia—and then some. His body was covered with a tunic and train of tiny gilded copper plates, and his face was covered with two funerary masks—a first, according to Bourget. A necklace of four-inch (ten-centimeter), disk-shaped silver rattles encircled his neck. On his head was a gilded crown. Six more crowns and ten V-shaped headdresses called diadems were arrayed on top of his body. Still another diadem was folded in half and placed atop six metal war clubs to serve as a mat for his lifeless body. The Lord of Ucupe was then wrapped in a large bundle made of reed and textile, along with artifacts suggestive of political status, said Bourget, who co-led the team that found the tomb with Bruno Alva of the Museum Tumbas Reales de Sipán. Rest of article.