While installing new pipes in Peru’s capital city, Lima, utility workers stumbled across an unexpected but very exciting pre-Inca burial. The grave belonged to a child, aged between 10 and 15, who had remained undisturbed for some 1,000 years.
Located approximately four feet beneath the surface, the mummy was found in a seated position. Incredibly, despite its age, wisps of dark brown hair were still visible on the child’s head. “The burial and the objects correspond to a style that developed between 1000 and 1200,” said archaeologist Jesus Bahamonde, scientific coordinator for the gas company Cálidda. While the site is now a residential neighbourhood, the area was once covered by agricultural fields.
While expanding a network of natural gas pipes in Lima’s Puente Piedra district, in mid-June, the workers first unearthed the trunk of a huarango tree (Prosopis pallida), a drought-resistant tree native to Peru and Ecuador, which once “served as a tomb marker” at a depth of around 20 inches.
The mummy was then discovered wrapped in a shroud a few feet below the trunk. Nearby workers also found grave artefacts including ceramic plates, pots and jugs.
“In some of these plates and bowls, crustacean remains, such as crabs, have been found,” which will help archaeologists learn more about this individual’s diet, Mr Bahamonde added. Some of the ceramics were decorated with geometric patterns and images of fishermen.
Mr Bahamonde believes the mummy, which was facing west towards the sea, belonged to a community of fishermen from the Chancay culture. Before the rise of the Incan Empire in the 15th century, the Chancay culture thrived on the Peruvian coast between 1000 and 1500. Today, Lima is home to an impressive 11.5 million people.
Due to Lima’s rich history, companies like Cálidda are required to hire archaeologists to supervise digs. In fact, since the company began building the natural gas pipelines in the city about a decade ago, its workers have unearthed more than 2,200 archaeological discoveries.
“It is very common to find archaeological remains on the Peruvian coast, including Lima, mainly funerary elements: tombs, burials and, among these, mummified individuals,” explained Pieter Van Dalen, dean of the College of Archaeologists of Peru, who added that many mummies of this kind were preserved naturally, their skin dehydrated by the hot climate and are often found in this seated position with their hands covering their faces.
This exciting discovery comes as scientists in Egypt think they’ve discovered the reason behind the reputed “pharaoh’s curse,” which could be a game-changer in the fight against cancer. For decades, the uncanny deaths of the excavation team who uncovered the Egyptian king’s resting place in 1922 were linked to a supernatural, but scientists believe they have worked out why.
Meanwhile, archaeologists working near a a village in the Cotswolds has uncovered potential evidence of a Roman villa, following a significant find. Glenn Manning, the metal detectorist who made the find, said: “The morning before the rally, I had a feeling I would find something special”.