«Sacrificed at the last stage of temple construction»
Ancient mummy found under a rubbish dump in Peru. Archaeologists excavating a rubbish dump in Lima, South America's capital, have discovered a mummy that they believe is about 3,000 years old.
San Marcos University students , who help scientists in excavations, were the first to notice the mummy's hair and skull, reports the BBC.
Archaeologist Miguel Aguilar said they removed eight tons of rubbish from the site before they began a thorough search for the historical remains.
An amazing find was made on a hilltop in the capital of Peru next to the training field of the professional football club Sporting Crystal». A team of excavators worked during the first months of this year, collecting tons of debris that covered the top of the hill.
The hill, on which the remains of ancient adobe walls are preserved, was called “huaca”, a Quechua word meaning “oracle” or “sacred place”. According to the Ministry of Culture, there are more than 400 such “huaca” in Lima.
< p>The archaeologists saw human remains with long black hair, lying face up, and the lower limbs were tied with a rope of vegetable origin.The stones surrounded the mummy, buried at a depth of one meter.
The burial was on top of a ruined clay U-shaped temple, characteristic of some pre-Hispanic buildings. According to Aguilar, the mummy has not yet undergone radiocarbon dating to determine its age. The archaeologist said that old fly eggs were found next to the male skeleton, leading scientists to believe that the body was exposed to the air for at least a few days before it was covered with earth.
Peter Van Dalen, professor at the National University Mayor de San Marcos, who is an expert on the archeology of the Peruvian coast but was not involved in the project, says the rope tying the mummy's lower limbs is an example of a pattern characteristic of the ceremonies. He gave the example of another mummy found in another area of Lima, whose body was also tied with vegetable ropes.
The mummy is believed to date back to the Manchai culture. Its representatives, according to BBC News, lived in the vicinity of modern Lima from about 1500 to 1000 BC.
They are known for building U-shaped temples oriented towards the rising sun.
Miguel Aguilar explained that the mummy was placed in a tomb at the center of such a U-shaped temple. The scientist said that the body was laid flat, which is typical of the «formative» Manchai culture, about 3,000 years ago.
The body was wrapped in a cloth made from cotton and vegetable fiber.
The archaeologist says that the man «was buried or sacrificed [as a sacrifice] at the last stage of the construction of this temple.»
The archaeologists also unearthed other objects buried with the body, including corn, coca leaves and seeds, which , in their opinion, could be part of the sacrifice.
Mummification was practiced in various cultures in what is now Peru before the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors — people who traveled through the Americas as part of the Spanish conquest.
< p>Some of the mummies were buried, many in the fetal position, while others were removed and put on display during key holidays, notes BBC News.