Archaeologists in Peru find adolescent wrapped mummy

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
25 Apr 2023 11:27

The discovered mummy was most likely an adolescent who was discovered in an underground tomb wrapped in a funerary bundle with ceramics, rope, and bits of skin and hair.

Skeletal remains and parts of the funerary bundle of a mummy found by Peruvian archaeologists are seen in the ruins of Cajarmarquilla, in the outskirts of Lima, Peru, April 24, 2023. (Reuters)

Archaeologists in Peru discovered on Monday a more than 1,000-year-old mummy on the outskirts of Peru's modern capital of Lima in the latest discovery dating back to pre-Inca times.

The mummy was probably an adolescent, and was found in an underground tomb wrapped in a funerary bundle, along with ceramics and rope and bits of skin and hair.

The mummified adolescent was discovered in a "good state of conservation," according to archaeologist Yomira Huaman, who is in charge of the Cajamarquilla research project, which is affiliated with the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos.

Peru was home to various pre-Hispanic cultures that thrived in the centuries before the Inca empire rose to power, primarily along the country's central coast and in the Andes. The adolescent lived between 1,100 and 1,200 years ago and could have been a member of the Lima or Ichma cultures.

Huaman explained that the mummy was discovered about 200 meters (220 yards) from where the first Cajamarquilla mummy was discovered, referring to another mummy discovered nearby last year.

The archaeological site is also where the remains of eight children and 12 adults, who were apparently sacrificed around 800-1,200 years ago, were found.

The Cajamarquilla complex includes the ruins of four pyramids as well as other structures such as maze-like walls. After Chan Chan in Peru's northwestern Andes, this complex is the country's second-largest mud-brick city.

According to Huaman, Cajamarquilla was possibly inhabited by people from the coast and the Andean highlands. The site, which was located in a dusty area about 20 kilometers (12 miles) from Lima, was thought to be a thriving trading center.