Peruvian archaeologists have announced that they have discovered 5,000-year-old ruins of aristocrats in the sacred city of Caral in an area that has been used as a garbage dump for decades. The new discoveries uncovered the important role women play in the center of America’s oldest civilization, researchers said.
“What has been discovered is clearly aligned with women who have risen in status, elite women,” archaeologist David Palomino told AFP.
The mummy was found in Aspero. Aspero was a garbage dump for over 30 years before becoming an archaeological site in the 1990s.
Palomino said the carefully preserved ruins dated back to 3,000 BC, contained some skin, nails and hair, wrapped in shrouds made from several layers of fabric and the mantle of Macau feathers. The macaw is a colorful bird belonging to the parrot family.
The woman’s funeral torso, presented to a reporter at the Ministry of Culture, included a Toucan beak, a stone bowl and a straw basket.
Peru’s Ministry of Culture
“This is an exceptional burial with preservation of skin, hair and nails. In this area, it is a rare condition where only skeletal debris is usually recovered,” Peru’s Ministry of Culture said in a news release.
According to a preliminary analysis, the bodies found in December belong to a woman between the ages of 20 and 35, about 5 feet tall, and wear a headdress (a bundle of twisted threads) representing her rise in social status.
“The rulers were generally thought to be male or more prominent in society, while women “played a very important role in the Caral civilization.”
The Caral Society developed from 3000 to 1800 BC at about the same time as other great cultures in Mesopotamia, Egypt and China.
The city is located in the fertile Soup Valley, about 115 miles north of Lima and 12 miles from the Pacific Ocean.
It was declared a UN World Heritage Site in 2009.
The Ministry of Culture said the discovery follows other elite burials found in Aspero, including “Four Toops Women” in 2016 and “Elite Men” in 2019.
Earlier this month, researchers conducting excavations in southern Peru, The remains of 20 people He is believed to be a victim of the battle.
