The find was made in the middle of a landfill. Archaeologists carrying out excavations in the Rimac district of Lima, the Peruvian capital, have unearthed a mummy believed to be 3,000 years old, according to the BBC.
It was the students of the University of San Marcos who participated in the excavations who first saw the mummy’s hair and skull. The body was wrapped in a cloth made of cotton fibers and vegetable fibers.
A possible sacrifice
This mummy dates from the time of the Manchay, who inhabited the surroundings of present-day Lima between 1500 and 1000 BC JC. The Manchay were known to build temples in the shape of a U facing east and the rising sun. According to archaeologist Miquel Aguilar, the mummy was placed in a tomb in the center of one of these temples.
“This person was abandoned or offered as a sacrifice during the last phase of the construction of the temple,” specifies Miguel Aguilar. The scientists also discovered other objects buried with the body, including corn, coca leaves, and seeds, which may have also been part of the offerings.
As the BBC explains, mummification was a widespread practice in pre-Columbian cultures. Some mummies were buried, most often in a fetal position. Others, on the contrary, were exhibited during the celebration of festivals.
Source: BFM TV
