Archaeologists recently discovered a pre-Hispanic mummy in a stone tomb. The tomb is situated on top of a hill on the outskirts of Peruvian capital of Lima, near a football training field.

Reports suggest that students of San Marcos University and researchers initially found remains of the mummy’s hair and a skull inside a cotton bundle during excavation. Rímac Miguel Aguilar, a senior Archaeologist and Manager of the Historical and Cultural Centre of the Municipality, said that the mummy was approximately 3,000 years old.

Speaking at a press conference in Lima, Aguilar stressed that they found the tomb on top of a destroyed U-shaped clay temple. Such a temple is a characteristic of certain pre-Hispanic buildings. “It most probably belongs to the Manchay Culture. It is a culture that developed in the valleys of Lima between 1,500 and 1,000 BCE,” he told the media. Aguilar explained that the mummy was laid out flat, and it was the characteristic of the Manchay Culture of the “formative era“, around 3,000 years ago.

According to Aguilar, as the mummy was buried with corn and coca leaves, seashells and seeds, experts are of the opinion that it was part of a ritual sacrifice. “The person who had been left or offered up (as a sacrifice) in this area happened in the last phase of the construction of this temple,” he added. Researchers preserved the mummy from decay after treating the body with substances and wrapping in cloth.

Earlier, archaeologists found 25 bodies in a mass grave in Chan Chan City (the present-day Chan Chan). Chan Chan was the capital of the Chimu Empire that had ruled the Latin American nation till the 15th Century. The Chimu Empire was defeated and destroyed by the Incas. According to archaeologists, Chan Chan was the largest mud citadel in the pre-Columbian era. They opined that the mass grave was the resting place of the Chimu elites. However, archaeologists were confused by the fact that most of the people buried were women, and none of them was above the age of 30. Hence, they failed to find the reason for death at such a younger age.

It may be noted that the people of Peru used to practice mummification before the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors-people who travelled to Latin America as part of the Spanish conquest. While some mummies were buried in foetal positions, others were brought out and paraded during key festivals.

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Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das