Lima, Sep 10 (EFE) Archaeologists in Peru have discovered a tomb containing the remains of a woman believed to be around 2,900 years old in the country’s northern Cajamarca region, a media report said.
“On the night of Sep 2, under a full moon, we were finally able to get to the remains of the person who occupied the tomb we had located Aug 31,” Yuji Seki of Japan, the lead researcher, told the Peruvian daily El Comercio Wednesday.
The woman, who was in her 30s at the time of her death, was buried within the main platform of a ceremonial centre located in Pacopampa, an archaeological site.
The mortuary furnishings of Dama de Pacompampa (Lady of Pacopampa), who lived around 900 B.C., include assorted objects made of gold, like earrings, plaques and necklaces, as well as ceramics and jewelry made from marine shells.
“The finding of objects made from shells really attracts attention because the … Archaeological Centre of Pacopampa is located in the mountains and communication with the coast, at that time, was not so ordinary,” said Seki.
Seki said the woman might have been subjected to a mortuary rite as burned containers were found next to her remains, and she was buried in a fetal position with her legs tied with a cord, which was also found in the tomb despite the passage of almost three millennia.
The investigations of the tomb and the region indicate that the inhabitants of Pacopampa lived at the same time as the pre-Incan Chavin and Cupisnique cultures, although they did not have any contact with them.
The investigative work in Pacopampa is being conducted by archaeologists from Japan’s Ethnology Museum and Peru’s San Marcos University.
