Almodovar project is in ruins

By Pamela Rolfe
May 17, 2007

CANNES -- Pedro Almodovar's production company El Deseo announced Wednesday it has started production on a docudrama about the discovery of the tomb of El Senor de Sipan, the ruler of ancient Peru's ruins, after acquiring exclusive audiovisual rights to the archeological dig.

Months after James Cameron's "The Last Tomb of Christ" documentary stirred controversy by claiming it had discovered the bones of Jesus Christ and his family, El Deseo has started preproduction on the feature-length film in co-production with Explora Films.

Documentary specialist Jose Manuel Novoa will direct the film that will combine the dig's discoveries with a re-creation of Sipan's life with elaborate set designs, including a pyramid and costumes.

According to El Deseo, the tale of the man who ruled Peru some 1,700 years ago includes sackings, murders and intrigue "in the purest style of adventure film."

Spanish pubcaster Television Espanola and the Spanish Geographic Society are supporting the project, which boasts a $1 million budget.

Calling it the "the main archeological discovery of the 20th century in America, comparable to the discovery of Tutankhamen's tomb," El Deseo said it anticipates news in the coming months that will make headlines worldwide.

Archeologist Walter Alva discovered the tomb some 20 years ago and is heading the dig, which has already unearthed new graves, temples and multicolored facades.

An Ancient Inca Tax And Metallurgy In Peru

Science Daily — Scientists in the United States and Canada are reporting the first scientific evidence that ancient civilizations in the Central Andes Mountains of Peru smelted metals, and hints that a tax imposed on local people by ancient Inca rulers forced a switch from production of copper to silver.

Their study is scheduled for the May 15 issue of ACS' Environmental Science & Technology, a semi-monthly journal.

The University of Alberta's Colin A. Cooke and colleagues point out that past evidence for metal smelting, which involves heating ore to extract pure metal, was limited mainly to the existence of metal artifacts dating to about 1,000 A.D. and the Wari Empire that preceded the Inca.

The new evidence emerged from a study of metallurgical air pollutants released from ancient furnaces during the smelting process and deposited in lake sediments in the area.

By analyzing metals in the sediments, the researchers recreated a 1,000-year history of metal smelting in the area, predating Francisco Pizarro and his Spanish conquistadors by 600 years. Their findings show that smelters in the Morococha region of Peru switched from production of copper to silver around the time that Inca rulers imposed a tax, payable in silver, on local populations.

Article: "A Millennium of Metallurgy Recorded by Lake Sediments from Morococha, Peruvian Andes"

Cuzco, Inca Valley merit exploration

By Sara Benson
LONELY PLANET

Article Launched: 04/22/2007 03:14:14 AM PDT
The high-flying Andean capital of Cuzco is the gateway to the Inca citadel of Machu Picchu, South America's premier tourist destination. Each year more than a million foreign visitors pass through Q'osqo (as it's known in the indigenous Quechua language), but few pause long enough to explore this Peruvian city once ruled by Inca kings and Spanish conquistadors.
Start at the nerve center of the colonial city, the Plaza de Armas. Once the site of an Inca palace, for centuries it has been lorded over by La Catedral, a jewel box of art that blends Catholic beliefs with indigenous Andean traditions. In Marcos Zapata's "The Last Supper," roast cuy (guinea pig) is a featured dish in the holy Christian feast.

Narrow alleyways beside the plaza are buttressed by complexly crafted Inca stonework. During ancient times the Incas' chosen Virgins of the Sun were housed behind these walls. Nearby are the ruins of Qorikancha, the "Golden Courtyard," once the Inca empire's richest temple. Before it was looted by Spanish conquistadors, some say it was literally covered in gold.

Pre-Columbian art

Exquisite artifacts from Peru's varied ancient cultures are displayed in the Museo de Arte Precolombino (Pre-Columbian Art Museum), housed in a Spanish colonial mansion built over a sacred Inca site. The more modest Museo Inka harbors mummies, pottery, jewelry and the world's largest collection of queros (Inca ceremonial drinking vessels). Andean highland weavers demonstrate their craft in the courtyard.
With their eyes set solely on Machu Picchu, many visitors miss not only the back streets of Cuzco, but also El Valle Sagrado, the "Sacred Valley" of the Incas. Lying just outside the city, the idyllic valley is flush with archaeological ruins, hot springs, colonial towns with quaint cobblestone streets, hectic highland markets and wide-open countryside ripe for adventure sports.

Valley of Incas

The most convenient jumping-off point is Ollantaytambo, where trains to Machu Picchu stop. An Inca village that has been inhabited continuously since the 13th century, Ollantaytambo is overshadowed by the ruins of a massive temple and fortress where the Incas made their last stand against the Spanish conquistadors before retreating deep into the Amazon jungle. The town's Museo CATCCO hosts artisan workshops and ethnographic exhibits on kaleidoscopic highland festivals.

The fertile Inca agricultural terraces of Moray and salt pans of Salinas are a short taxi ride from Urubamba, the valley's hub for adventure sports. Outfitters can arrange rides on graceful Peruvian paso horses, hot-air-balloon flights and paragliding over the Andes or guided hikes, bird-watching trips and river-rafting adventures.

The markets of Pisac and Chinchero attract hundreds of foreign visitors and Peruvian villagers alike. Pisac's Sunday market is filled with tour buses and locals in traditional dress, while the town's clay-oven bakeries are famous for their castillos de cuyes (miniature guinea pig castles). The ruins of Pisac's Inca citadel, with ceremonial baths and honeycomb tombs, is perched above the dizzying Rio Kitamayo gorge. The hamlet of Chinchero has a less frenzied Sunday market, but also an exquisite colonial church and a local archaeology museum.

Inca fortress

The valley's most famous site, Saqsaywaman, is a challenging uphill walk from Cuzco's Plaza de Armas along a winding Inca road. The imposing fort is known not only for its zigzag fortifications, but also for the grand pageantry of the Inti Raymi festival, an Inca winter solstice celebration, held every June 24.

Wherever you spend an extra day or two en route to Machu Picchu, you won't regret it. Little-known ancient ruins, colonial treasures and vibrant Andean villages await.

If you go


Places to stay: Uphill from Cuzco's Plaza de Armas, Hostal Rumi Punku (www.rumipunku.com, 011-51-84-22-1102, doubles from $40) has authentic Inca stonework, a rooftop terrace and a Finnish sauna. The 99-room Novotel Cusco (www.novotel.com, 011-51-84-58-1030, doubles from $130) inhabits an elegant colonial courtyard, where each of the historic wing's rooms are unique. Next to the Qorikancha ruins, Hotel Libertador Palacio del Inka (www.libertador.com.pe, 011-51-84-23-1961, doubles from $190) is an opulent mansion -- Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro once slept here -- set upon rock-solid Inca foundations.

Places to eat: Cuzco's cobblestone streets are full of inviting eateries. In a garden courtyard with a crackling fire pit, Pachapapa (Plaza San Blas 120) serves classic Peruvian dishes, from Cuzquenan lamb stew to roasted wild trout with quinoa pancakes, plus fruity pisco (Peruvian brandy) cocktails. Inka Panaka (Tandapata 140) nearby is the place for nouveau Andean cooking. The more casual Inkafe Cafe (Choquechaca 140) specializes in regional fare, including hard-to-find highland desserts. The sophisticated restaurant Map Cafe, in the courtyard of the Museo de Arte Precolombino, serves such eclectic gourmet delights as guinea pig confit and alpaca steaks.

Ancient Peruvian metallurgy studied

EDMONTON, Alberta, April 19 (UPI) -- A Canadian-led study has reported the first scientific evidence that ancient Peruvian civilizations in the central Andes Mountains smelted metals.

The study by the University of Alberta's Colin Cooke and colleagues also determined that a tax imposed on local people by ancient Inca rulers might have forced a switch from production of copper to silver.

The researchers said prior evidence of metal smelting was limited mainly to the existence of metal artifacts dating to about 1,000 A.D. and the Wari Empire that preceded the Incas. The new evidence emerged from a study of metallurgical air pollutants released from ancient furnaces during the smelting process and deposited in lake sediments.

By analyzing metals in the sediments, the researchers recreated a 1,000-year history of metal smelting in the area, predating Francisco Pizarro and his Spanish conquistadors by 600 years.

The findings suggest smelters in the Morococha region of Peru switched from producing copper to silver about the time Inca rulers imposed a tax, payable in silver, on local populations.

The study is scheduled for the May 15 issue of the American Chemical Society's semi-monthly journal Environmental Science & Technology.

Copyright 2007 by United Press International. All Rights Reserved.

New Archaeological Findings On Political Power In Peru

Science Daily — A team from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and the University of Almería has completed its second part of the "Proyecto La Puntilla", an archaeological expedition to the Peruvian province of Nazca, where last year it discovered a new type of construction. The latest findings show that a new political power based on the exercise of violence emerged on the south coast of Peru two thousand years ago. There was a State in which an aristocracy, based in Cahuachi, exercised its dominion on other, poorer communities in the Nazca Valley. The team has also observed practices such as cranial deformation.

The excavations at the necropolis of El Trigal have uncovered new information on the repercussions of the emergence of the State in southern Peru. The archaeologists have found that El Trigal graves are very simple, in contrast with the extravagant tombs of the aristocracy around Nazca.

The situation shows the poverty that existed among the community in El Tribal. The dominant group in the State of Cahuachi imposed the transfer of wealth through taxes and other means. This explains the poverty of those living in the area of La Puntilla.

A settlement was established in El Trigal about 3000 years ago. Several centuries later, this had become an economically strong community with a vast network of relations with other territories. This hypothesis is backed up by the presence of valuable Spondylus shells (probably from the distant coasts of what today we know as Ecuador), obsidian (from the mountains), and craft tools, such as the boat decorated with the style known as Ocucaje 8 (possibly manual workers in the north).

However, the necropolis excavated in El Trigal, dated as being from the first century AD, represents a later period of decline and pauperisation in the community, coinciding with the emergence of Cahuachi.

This data confirms that 1900 years ago a State existed in the Nazca Valley based in the monumental settlements of Cahuachi, where pyramids were built. Those governing Cahuachi belonged to one of the groups who shared control over the south coast of Peru, such as the aristocratic group described in the Paracas necropolis (near Pisco), in the same area.

The dominant class in Cahuachi controlled the communities in the Nazca Valley using violence, forcing the communities to economically sustain the group in power. Between those communities were those that occupied the area known as La Puntilla, to the east of Nazca, where the research team has been excavating for the past two years.

Cranial deformation

One of the key findings at the necropolis was that some of the bodies found in the tombs have undergone certain manipulations. One such manipulation was cranial deformation in order to obtain an "elongated skull", and this has been observed in one of the corpses.

This practice took place during childhood by using wooden objects to put pressure on the skull. "Elongated skulls" are characteristic of the aristocracy buried in the tombs in Paracas, and a number of studies suggest that this treatment was a way of distinguishing dominant groups. This is why it is so significant that this characteristic has been found in an individual buried at the necropolis of a poor community in the Nazca Valley.

This discovery opens up a series of other questions: Is this the member of a family belonging to the dominant group? Or is the practice unrelated to a person's affiliation with a group? Was it a way of identifying individuals who took part in specific activities (for example, shamanism)?

In another tomb, another interesting case has been found. Alongside the corpse of a woman, they have found the legs and feet of another individual. We know that decapitation and dismemberment were frequent among the first states of the region, so we cannot discard the possibility that this was an intentional act.

The fieldwork in this second part of the "Proyecto La Puntilla" ended in December, and the material and human remains uncovered are now being studied. The research will be amplified through a programme to analyse the DNA in order to find evidence on the affiliation of those individuals buried at the necropolis.

The "Proyecto La Puntilla" is funded by the General Directorate for Fine Arts and Cultural Assets of the Spanish Ministry of Culture and by the Catalan Department of Education and Universities. The project is also recognised by the National Institute for Culture of Peru. The research team consists of archaeologists and students from Spain, Peru, Chile, Argentina, France and Italy.

New Understanding Of Human Sacrifice In Early Peru

Published by Science Daily — A study published in the August/October issue of CurrentAnthropology, reports on new archaeological evidence regarding theidentities of human sacrifice victims of the Moche society of Peru.

The Moche was a complex society whose influence extended over mostof the North coast of Peru between AD 200 and 650. They are widelyknown for their life-like mold-made ceramics, beautiful metallurgy, mudbrick pyramids, and iconographic depictions of one-on-one combatbetween Moche warriors. In recent years archaeologists had uncoveredevidence of the sacrifice of adult males at a number of Moche pyramids.What has remained unclear until now is who these sacrificial victimswere. Largely due to the nature of iconographic depictions of Mochecombat most scholars have speculated that the sacrifices were largelyrituals among local Moche elites, the primary goal of which was toprovide human victims for sacrificial ceremonies.

However, this newly published study by Richard Sutter and Rosa Cortezcompares genetically influenced tooth cusp and root traits for theMoche sacrificial victims from a pyramid at the Moche capital withthose of other North Coast populations. The findings of thisarchaeological comparison indicate that the sacrificial victims werenot local Moche elite. Instead they were likely warriors captured fromnearby valleys. When this result is considered in light of otherarchaeological and skeletal lines of evidence it suggests that theMoche populations in each valley were characterized by territorialconflict and competition with one another.

Sponsored by the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research,Current Anthropology is a transnational journal devoted to research onhumankind, encompassing the full range of anthropological scholarshipon human cultures and on the human and other primate species.Communicating across the subfields, the journal features papers in awide variety of areas, including social, cultural, and physicalanthropology as well as ethnology and ethnohistory, archaeology andprehistory, folklore, and linguistics. For more information, please seeour website: www.journals.uchicago.edu/CA

"The Origins and Role of the Moche (AD 1-750) Human SacrificialVictims: A Bio-Archaeological Perspective." Richard Sutter and RosaCortez. Current Anthropology 46:4.

Peru's Nasca Lines Point To Water Sources, Suggest UMass Researchers

Source: University Of Massachusetts, Amherst
Date: December 1, 2000
Published by Science Daily

AMHERST, Mass. - The ancient "Nasca lines" created on the desert floor by native peoples in Peru thousands of years ago may not just be works of art, according to a team of scientists from the University of Massachusetts. The team, which includes hydrogeologist Stephen B. Mabee and archeologist Donald Proulx, suggests that some of the mysterious lines may in fact mark underground sources of water. The research project is detailed in the December issue of Discover magazine. The team also includes independent scholar David Johnson, an adjunct research associate in the department of anthropology at UMass, and geosciences graduate students Jenna Levin and Gregory Smith.

The lines were constructed in the desert in southwestern Peru about 1,500-2,000 years ago by the Nasca culture, prior to the invasion of the Incas. The lines, which are etched into the surface of the desert by removing surface pebbles to reveal the lighter sand beneath, depict birds and mammals, including a hummingbird, a monkey, and a man, as well as zigzags, spirals, triangles, and other geometric figures. Called "geoglyphs," the elaborate figures are located about 250 miles south of Lima, and measure up to 1.2 miles in length. Their meaning has been the object of centuries of speculation. Some experts have hypothesized that the figures had ceremonial or religious functions, or served as astronomical calendars. But a slate of scientific tests has led the UMass team to theorize that at least some of the geometric shapes mark underground water.

"Ancient inhabitants may have marked the location of their groundwater supply distribution system with geoglyphs because the springs and seeps associated with the faults provided a more reliable and, in some instances, a better-quality water source than the rivers. We're testing this scientifically," said Mabee. "The spatial coincidence between the geoglyphs and groundwater associated with underground faults in the bedrock offers an intriguing alternative to explain the function of some of the geoglyphs."

Proulx, who has studied the region for decades, notes that the symbols on the biomorphs (figures of animals, plants, and humans) and on Nasca pottery are almost identical. "There are representations of natural forces," he says, "Not deities in the Western sense, but powerful forces of sky and earth and water, whom they needed to propitiate for water and a good harvest."

The team has studied the drawings and taken water samples during three separate journeys to Peru, over the past five years. The research has been funded by a University of Massachusetts Healy grant, the National Geographic Society, and the H. John Heinz Charitable Trust.

"So far, the tests indicate that the underground faults provide a source of reliable water to local inhabitants. The water, in comparison with available river water, is better-quality in terms of pH levels, magnesium, calcium, chloride and sulfate concentrations," Mabee said.

Proulx carried out an archaeological survey of more than 128 sites in the drainage area, in conjunction with the geological research. His discoveries provided data for another piece of the puzzle many archaeological sites were constructed near water-bearing faults and used this important secondary source of water.

The team was able to map the water's sources, and found that in at least five cases, the wells and aquifers corresponded with geoglyphs and archaeological sites. "They always seem to go together," said Mabee.

Note: This story has been adapted from a news release issued by University Of Massachusetts, Amherst.

New Archaeological Evidence Illuminates Inca Sun-Worship Ritual

Source: University Of Illinois At Chicago
Date: September 30, 1998
Published by Science Daily

Science Daily — University of Illinois at Chicago archaeologist Brian Bauer and colleagues have unearthed artifacts from sites in South America that shed light on how the Inca organized their sun-worship rituals and how they physically kept track of the sun's movements.

According to Bauer, "many scholars of Latin American antiquity believe that the Inca built large stone pillars to record the sun's horizon location at the June and December solstices, but archaeologists had not found physical evidence of the pillars and there had been no detailed investigation into the organization of the solstice rituals" -- until now.

During a survey of pre-Hispanic sites on the Island of the Sun, in Lake Titicaca, Bauer and colleagues David Dearborn of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and graduate student Matthew Seddon of the University of Chicago discovered the remains of two stone pillars. They also found a large platform area just outside the walls of a sanctuary on the island.

Archaeological and astronomical research, which the team presents in the Sept. 24 issue of Latin American Antiquity, suggests the Inca used the site to support the elites' claim to power through elaborate solar rituals, perhaps using two-tiered worship.

In the early 15th century the Inca empire -- the largest state to develop in the Americas -- expanded into the Lake Titicaca region in modern-day Peru and Bolivia and usurped the Island of the Sun from local control. The island and a sacred rock, which locals believed was the birthplace of the sun, had been the focus of worship for centuries, said Bauer. Under the Inca it became one of the most important pilgrimage centers in South America.

"The Inca nobility, as well as members of the general populace, journeyed to the island to worship and make offerings in a sanctuary plaza next to the sacred rock," said Bauer.

The team's research indicates that, on the June solstice, the Inca king and high priests of the empire assembled in a small plaza beside the sacred rock to witness the dramatic setting of the sun between the stone pillars. Their findings also indicate that, as the elites paid homage to the sun from within the sanctuary, lower-class pilgrims observed the event from a second platform outside the sanctuary wall. From the perspective of the lower-class pilgrims, the sun set between the stone pillars and directly over the ruling elite, who called themselves the children of the sun.

"We're proposing that the platform outside the sanctuary walls represents a segregation of the elite and non-elite classes of sun worship," said Bauer. "This adds a new dimension to the practice of the solar cult that was not distinctly recorded in accounts of similar state rituals in the imperial capital, Cusco.

"While both groups participated in solar worship, the non-elites simultaneously offered respect to the sun and the children of that deity. This physical segregation emphasized that the Inca alone had direct access to the powers of the sun," he said.

The researchers illustrate the layout of the Inca structures in a map. The two stone pillars were erected on a natural ridge 600 meters to the northwest of the sacred rock. The plaza adjacent to the sacred rock was rectangular in shape, roughly 80 meters long and 35 meters wide, with the long axis pointing in the direction of the June solstice sunset. A sanctuary wall to the south and east blocked access to the site, which could only be reached through a gate. The secondary plaza, accessible to all pilgrims, was just outside the sanctuary wall and about 250 meters southeast of the sacred rock plaza.

Bauer said the remnants of stone pillars are similar to pillars around Cusco, which were described by several Spanish chroniclers of the 16th century. Those pillars were large enough to be seen against the setting sun at a distance of 15 kilometers. One such set of pillars marked where the sun sets at the June solstice, which is the northernmost point at which the sun crosses the! horizon. Unfortunately, said Bauer, a combination of post-conquest looting and recent urban growth in the Cusco valley has destroyed the area where the Cusco pillars once stood.

Bauer and Dearborn's research on the Island of the Sun is a continuation of their long-standing joint research on Inca astronomy. They are the authors of Astronomy and Empire in the Ancient Andes (University of Texas Press), which examines the origins and organization of Inca astronomy in Cusco.

"The findings from the Island of the Sun is the first discovery and documentation of similar pillars outside the imperial capital of the Inca," said Bauer.

Note: This story has been adapted from a news release issued by University Of Illinois At Chicago

Ancient Peruvian metallurgy studied

Published by Science Daily

EDMONTON, Alberta, April 19 (UPI) -- A Canadian-led study has reported the first scientific evidence that ancient Peruvian civilizations in the central Andes Mountains smelted metals.

The study by the University of Alberta's Colin Cooke and colleagues also determined that a tax imposed on local people by ancient Inca rulers might have forced a switch from production of copper to silver.

The researchers said prior evidence of metal smelting was limited mainly to the existence of metal artifacts dating to about 1,000 A.D. and the Wari Empire that preceded the Incas. The new evidence emerged from a study of metallurgical air pollutants released from ancient furnaces during the smelting process and deposited in lake sediments.

By analyzing metals in the sediments, the researchers recreated a 1,000-year history of metal smelting in the area, predating Francisco Pizarro and his Spanish conquistadors by 600 years.

The findings suggest smelters in the Morococha region of Peru switched from producing copper to silver about the time Inca rulers imposed a tax, payable in silver, on local populations.

The study is scheduled for the May 15 issue of the American Chemical Society's semi-monthly journal Environmental Science & Technology.

Copyright 2007 by United Press International. All Rights Reserved.

UNESCO reiterates concerns for conservation of Peru’s Machu Picchu

Posted by Wolfy Becker on March 14th, 2007

(JP-wb) — The UNESCO reiterated its concerns for the preservation of Peru’s ancient Inca citadel of Machu Picchu. The head of the organization’s World Heritage Center, Italian Francesco Bandarin, stated again that the protection of Peru’s most visited attraction is the surrounding development based on increasing tourism

“Machu Picchu’s archaeological part is well preserved and protected. What it is worrisome is the chaotic and anarchistic development created through the pressures of growing tourism in the nearby town of Aguas Calientes”, he said. He maintained that all kinds of pressure exist for the area’s infrastructural development which is going to ruin the historical landscape of Machu Picchu.

Bandarin also criticized the construction of a bridge (Carrilluchayoc) to provide another access road for vehicles, which would alter Machu Picchu’s surroundings and makes the control of flowing tourists impossible. “Opening this fragile area for uncontrolled traffic of all kinds of vehicles is unacceptable”, he remarked.

According to official numbers, three thousand people visit the sanctuary on a daily basis. Since 1981 it has been declared Historical Sanctuary as well as World Heritage Site by UNESCO because of its archaeological importance as well as its unique flora such as the orchids that you may find aplenty.

Bandarin put the problem of Machu Picchu in the same category as the Galápagos Islands (Ecuador) and the Mayan ruins of Copán in Honduras. “They are all dark spots in Latin America as far as their preservation is concerned”, he added. “Galápagos is a very serious problem and we are really worried. It is a very fragile site that cannot be treated like the Canary Islands. In Galápagos the criteria of sustainable development cannot be applied, that is impossible”, he emphasized.

In the case of Honduras, he criticized the government-backed project of constructing a new airport in the neighborhood of the Copán ruins, only to give tourism another boost. In his opinion, it will have a negative influence on the Pre-Columbian city located near the border to Guatemala. “Tourism is an increasing threat to the protected sites”.

“Many people are worried about Machu Picchu, the Copán ruins, and Galápagos”, Bandarin said in his finalizing statement at a meeting for Latin American World Heritage that closed in Santiago de Chile today.

He explained that these precious sites are in danger mainly because of an accelerated growth of an uncontrolled tourism industry. “It is the largest industry in the world. But sometimes it becomes a direct threat for the values that are protected by UNESCO”, he concluded.

Published On Line

Peruvian Citadel Is Site Of Earliest Ancient Solar Observatory In The Americas

Source: Yale University
Date: March 2, 2007
Published in Science Daily

Archeologists from Yale and the University of Leicester have identified an ancient solar observatory at Chankillo, Peru as the oldest in the Americas with alignments covering the entire solar year, according to an article in the March 2 issue of Science.

Recorded accounts from the 16th century A.D. detail practices of state-regulated sun worship during Inca times, and related social and cosmological beliefs. These speak of towers being used to mark the rising or setting position of the sun at certain times in the year, but no trace of the towers has ever been found. This paper reports the earliest structures that support those writings.

At Chankillo, not only were there towers marking the sun's position throughout the year, but they remain in place, and the site was constructed much earlier -- in approximately the 4th century B.C.

"Archaeological research in Peru is constantly pushing back the origins of civilization in the Americas," said Ivan Ghezzi, a graduate student in the department of Anthropology at Yale University and lead author of the paper. "In this case, the 2,300 year old solar observatory at Chankillo is the earliest such structure identified and unlike all other sites contains alignments that cover the entire solar year. It predates the European conquests by 1,800 years and even precedes, by about 500 years, the monuments of similar purpose constructed by the Mayans in Central America."

Chankillo is a large ceremonial center covering several square kilometers in the costal Peruvian desert. It was better known in the past for a heavily fortified hilltop structure with massive walls, restricted gates, and parapets. For many years, there has been a controversy as to whether this part of Chankillo was a fort or a ceremonial center. But the purpose of a 300meter long line of Thirteen Towers lying along a small hill nearby had remained a mystery..

The new evidence now identifies it as a solar observatory. When viewed from two specially constructed observing points, the thirteen towers are strikingly visible on the horizon, resembling large prehistoric teeth. Around the observing points are spaces where artifacts indicate that ritual gatherings were held.

The current report offers strong evidence for an additional use of the site at Chankillo -- as a solar observatory. It is remarkable as the earliest known complete solar observatory in the Americas that defines all the major aspects of the solar year.

"Focusing on the Andes and the Incan empire, we have known for decades from archeological artifacts and documents that they practiced what is called solar horizon astronomy, which uses the rising and setting positions of the sun in the horizon to determine the time of the year," said Ghezzi.
"We knew that Inca practices of astronomy were very sophisticated and that they used buildings as a form of "landscape timekeeping" to mark the positions of the sun on key dates of the year, but we did not know that these practices were so old."

According to archival texts, "sun pillars" standing on the horizon near Cusco were used to mark planting times and regulate seasonal observances, but have vanished and their precise location remains unknown. In this report, the model of Inca astronomy, based almost exclusively in the texts, is fleshed out with a wealth of archaeological and archaeo-astronomical evidence.

Ghezzi was originally working at the site as a Yale graduate student conducting thesis work on ancient warfare in the region, with a focus on the fortress at the site.

Noting the configuration of 13 monuments, in 2001, Ghezzi wondered about a proposed relationship to astronomy. "Since the 19th century there was speculation that the 13-tower array could be solar or lunar demarcation -- but no one followed up on it," Ghezzi said. "We were there. We had extraordinary support from the Peruvian Government, Earthwatch and Yale University. So we said, 'Let's study it while we are here!'"

To his great surprise, within hours they had measurements indicating that one tower aligned with the June solstice and another with the December solstice. But, it took several years of fieldwork to date the structures and demonstrate the intentionality of the alignments. In 2005, Ghezzi connected with co-author Clive Ruggles, a leading British authority on archeoastronomy. Ruggles was immediately impressed with the monument structures.

"I am used to being disappointed when visiting places people claim to be ancient astronomical observatories." said Ruggles. "Since everything must point somewhere and there are a great many promising astronomical targets, the evidence -- when you look at it objectively -- turns out all too often to be completely unconvincing."

"Chankillo, on the other hand, provided a complete set of horizon markers -- the Thirteen Towers -- and two unique and indisputable observation points," Ruggles said. "The fact that, as seen from these two points, the towers just span the solar rising and setting arcs provides the clearest possible indication that they were built specifically to facilitate sunrise and sunset observations throughout the seasonal year."

What they found at Chankillo was much more than the archival records had indicated. "Chankillo reflects well-developed astronomical principles, which suggests the original forms of astronomy must be quite older," said Ghezzi, who is also the is Director of Archaeology of the National Institute of Culture in Lima, Peru.

The researchers also knew that Inca astronomical practices in much later times were intimately linked to the political operations of the Inca king, who considered himself an offspring of the sun. Finding this observatory revealed a much older precursor where calendrical observances may well have helped to support the social and political hierarchy. They suggest that this is the earliest unequivocal evidence, not only in the Andes but in all the Americas, of a monument built to track the movement of the sun throughout the year as part of a cultural landscape.

According to the authors, these monuments were statements about how the society was organized; about who had power, and who did not. The people who controlled these monuments "controlled" the movement of the sun. The authors pose that this knowledge could have been translated into the very powerful political and ideological statement, "See, I control the sun!"

"This study brings a new significance to an old site," said Richard Burger, Chairman of Archeological Studies at Yale and Ghezzi's graduate mentor. "It is a wonderful discovery and an important milestone in Andean observations of this site that people have been arguing over for a hundred years."

"Chankillo is one of the most exciting archaeoastronomical sites I have come across," said Ruggles. "It seems extraordinary that an ancient astronomical device as clear as this could have remained undiscovered for so long."

Ghezzi is also a Lecturer in Archaeology at Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Peru in Lima, Peru. Support for the project came from Yale University, the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Peru, the National Science Foundation, the Wenner-Gren Foundation, the Field Museum, the Schwerin Foundation, Earthwatch Institute and the Asociación Cultural Peruano Británica in Lima, Peru.

Citation: Science (March 2, 2007)
Note: This story has been adapted from a news release issued by Yale University.

Inca link is a bridge too far, say critics

Last Updated: 12:01am GMT 10/02/2007 By Danielle Demetriou

A controversial new bridge close to Peru's most famous sight, Machu Picchu, could have a damaging impact on tourism to the ruins, critics have said.

The 80-metre (262ft) bridge, due to open later this month, will create a new route to the Inca ruins and enable locals to take produce to Cusco in three hours instead of 12.

However, politicians and environmentalists fear that the bridge, due to open this month, will bring a surge in tourist numbers, which could damage the ruins and lead to an increase in drug trafficking in the region.

British tour operators seem to be in two minds on the plan. A spokeswoman for Journey Latin America said: "Our feelings about the bridge are mixed. We are excited about the potential for development of the village and the surrounding area, which is so much less known and wealthy than Cusco and the Sacred Valley. But we feel it is essential that visitor numbers are closely monitored and regulated." It is not the first time concerns have been raised about the future of Machu Picchu. Named a Unesco World Heritage Site, it currently attracts as many as 2,500 visitors a day. Unesco inspectors are due to inspect the site later this year to ascertain whether its status is endangered.

Last year, the Peruvian government announced that it had restricted the numbers permitted to walk the Inca Trail at any one time. Five months ago, the site was declared a no-fly zone by the government because of fears that low-flying helicopter tours for tourists were damaging the habitat.

Professor Works To Unravel Mysteries Of Khipu: Colored, Knotted Strings Used By The Ancient Incas

Science Daily
BUFFALO, N.Y.

Although the ancient Inca are renowned for their highly organized society and extraordinary skill in working with gold, stone and pottery, few are familiar with the khipu -- an elaborate system of colored, knotted strings that many researchers believe to be primarily mnemonic in nature, like a rosary -- that was used by the ancient conquerors to record census, tribute, genealogies and calendrical information. Because the Inca didn't employ a recognizable system of writing, researchers like Galen Brokaw, assistant professor in the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures in the University at Buffalo's College of Arts and Sciences, have focused on the khipu as a way to further illuminate Inca history and culture. Brokaw doesn't adhere to the strict view held by some researchers that the khipu is solely mnemonic in nature, instead maintaining the possibility that these intricate specimens are historiographic in nature.

Deciphering the mysteries of the khipu, which consists of a primary cord from which hang pendants of cords, depends upon researchers discovering a Rosetta Stone of sorts that would allow them to decode the meaning of the cords and knots.

Cord color and the direction of twist and ply of yarn appear to denote specific meanings, but whether or not the devices recorded more than statistical or mathematical information, such as poetry or language, remains elusive to researchers, says Brokaw. He does believe, however, that some of the specimens -- about 600 khipu survive in museums or private collections -- do appear to be non-numerical.

The khipu didn't originate with the Inca, explains Brokaw. Even today, he adds, Andean shepherds can be seen using a form of khipu to record information about their flocks.

"There's a certain kind of mystery about it that's intriguing," Brokaw says, noting that while there is a tendency among some researchers to overly romanticize the khipu as some kind of writing system, he believes -- after reading the indigenous texts comprised, in part, of biographies of Inca kings -- that it's easy to see how the khipu might have represented more complex, discursive structures than being simply records of tribute.

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Trophy Skull Sheds Light on Ancient Wari Empire

(By Cultural Heritage News Agency)

Archeologists in Peru’s Huaro Valley recently discovered a “trophy skull” belonging to 1500 to 1000 years ago which was approximately 30 years old at the time of death and had survived several head injuries.

Earthwatch Institute, 25 January 2007 -- A team of archaeologists and Earthwatch volunteers led by Dr. Mary Glowacki and Louis Tesar uncovered an elite Wari cemetery at Cotocotuyoc this past summer in Peru’s Huaro Valley, near Cuzco. Among their finds was a “trophy skull,” which offers insight into warfare in the Wari Empire based here from 1,500 to 1,000 years ago.

The trophy skull was found in what the archaeologists consider the VIP area of the cemetery. Special placement of llama bones, a distinguishing feature of Wari remains, alerted the archaeologists and volunteers that something special might be underneath. The skull had a large circular hole cut in its base, suggesting that it may have been put or held on a pole. A large hole in the back of the skull indicates that it may have been worn during special ceremonies like a large pendant. The skull also features a line cut across the frontal bone, which indicates removal of the scalp possibly for the cleaning, perhaps for use as a ceremonial vessel, and was later reattached to the skull with gold alloy pins.

The skull was likely that of a warrior, as indicated by the many scars and abrasions on various parts of the skull that showed evidence of healing. Archaeologists estimate the man was around the age of 30 at his death, and that he must have been a warrior of repute for the Wari to remove his head and display the skull.

“The trophy skull adds a new dimension to our understanding of the role of warriors and warfare in Wari culture,” says Glowacki, principal investigator of Earthwatch’s Archaeology of Peru’s Wari Empire expedition. Volunteers may join Glowacki to help unearth more of cemetery this summer on the expedition. “I hope to be able to find the edges of the cemetery. We think we know where the center is, but don’t know how far it goes,” says Glowacki.

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Links recomended:

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Peru Ruins May Hide Mummies

(Jennifer Viegas, Discovery News)

Jan. 19, 2007 — While on a hunting trip last year in a remote, forested part of Peru, family members Octavio, Merlin and Edison Añazco literally bumped into something extraordinary: an enormous ruin including a ceremonial platform, a football field-sized plaza, a watch tower and other architectural remains.

Keith Muscutt, an independent researcher, heard about the find and recently explored the eastern Andes site, which will make its television debut on the Discovery Channel’s new "Chasing Mummies" series early next year.

The related footage, produced in collaboration with GRB-Entertainment, may show mummies, as Muscutt believes the structures were built by the ancient Chachapoya civilization, known for its mountainside tombs and the mummies within them.

While the ruin — nicknamed The Penitentiary — may have been some kind of mausoleum, Muscutt thinks the large structures served another purpose. The plaza alone is 200 feet by 300 feet.

More information...

Oldest religious icon in Americas

(BBC - News)

According to archaeologists, it pushes back the dawn of religion in the region by 1,000 years.
The fragment of a bowl dated to about 4,000 years ago bears the image of the Staff God, the main deity in the Andes for thousands of years.

The figure was found at a looted cemetery on the coast of Peru, 120 miles north of Lima.

The area appears to have been the ancestral home of pre-Inca civilisation.

'Icon'

"Like the cross, the Staff God is a clearly recognisable religious icon," said Jonathan Haas, MacArthur curator of North American anthropology at The Field Museum, Chicago.

"This appears to be the oldest identifiable religious icon found in the Americas.

"It indicates that organised religion began in the Andes more than 1,000 years earlier than previously thought."

More information .........>

Tomb find reveals pre-Inca city

(BBC - News)

Archaeologists working in northern Peru have discovered a spectacular tomb complex about 1,000 years old.

The complex contains at least 20 tombs, and dates from the pre-Inca Sican era.

Among the discoveries are 12 "tumis", ceremonial knives which scientists have not been able to study in a burial site before, as well as ceramics and masks.

The Sican culture flourished from approximately AD 800-1300, one of several metalworking societies which succumbed to drought and conquest.

Archaeologists working on the project say the find will help them understand details of the culture.

"It is a religious city, a sacred settlement, and at each excavation site is a cemetery," Izumi Shimada told Peru's El Comercio newspaper.

"That tells us that Sican was a very organised society."

Professor Shimada, based at the University of Southern Illinois in the US, has been excavating Sican sites for a quarter of a century. The latest dig was performed in conjunction with the Sican National Museum.

More information ....>

Sican Museum

Corn, Arrowroot Fossils in Peru Change Views on Pre-Inca Culture

Nicholas Bakalarfor National Geographic News
March 2, 2006

An ancient culture in southern Peru cultivated corn some 4,000 years ago, about a thousand years earlier than previously believed, a new study suggests.
Researchers excavating a site in the Andean highland town of Waynuna found both corn leaf and corncob remains in the ruins of a house at least 3,600 years old.

Perhaps even more important, the scientists say, is that they found arrowroot remains at the same dig site.
The presence of this edible root confirms archeologists' suspicions that people in the eastern lowland forests—where the plant was grown—made contact with people in the highlands—where the root was consumed.
"Archaeologists have suspected that there was an important connection between the two areas based upon iconographic evidence and some coastal finds," said Linda Perry, the lead author on the study.

Perry is an archaeobiologist with the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. She conducted the research with Dolores Piperno, a staff scientist at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama and a National Geographic Society grantee.
Perry added that "our arrowroot fossils are the first highland evidence documenting this connection. Our finds indicate that the connection was early and of long duration."
She and her team describe their findings in this month's issue of the journal Nature.

more information ........>

Ancient Canals in Andes Reveal Early Agriculture

Nicholas Bakalarfor National Geographic News
December 5, 2005

Despite a lack of solid evidence, archeologists have thought for some time that farmers used irrigation canals in agricultural villages in Peru as long as 4,000 years ago.
New discoveries in the Peruvian Andes may push that date back another 2,700 years.

Scientists say they have unearthed evidence of the oldest canals ever found in South America.
The ancient canals were almost certainly designed for irrigation and were built in the Andean foothills in northern Peru's Zaña Valley, about 40 miles (60 kilometers) from the Pacific coast.
Researchers describe their find in the November 22 issue of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

"This is an important paper with terrific results," said Jonathan Haas, an anthropologist at the Field Museum in Chicago, who was not involved in the research.
"Every day we have a better understanding of the beginnings of agriculture and domesticated economy. But the whole question of irrigation has so far been indirectly inferred based on the existence of the plants," he said.

The new study "has nailed that down very solidly. Irrigation starts remarkably early in the Andes. You're getting agriculture based on irrigation in the Andes as early as anything seen in the rest of the New World," he added. "It is just stunning work."

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Caral: A journey back to 2627 B.C.

(Text and information by CNN Travel)

CARAL, Peru (AP) -- A sudden wind gust blows eerily down from rocky Andean foothills, kicking up a cinnamon-colored cloud over the moonscape of ruins that is the oldest city in the Americas.
The sky is a crisp blue. All around in the Supe River Valley are lush fields of onion and corn.
We are in Caral, three hours and nearly 5,000 years from contemporary Lima, Peru's bustling capital, and we've spent the last half-hour or so on a bumpy drive from the coast, along a dirt road blocked periodically by bleating herds of goats and sheep.
Caral made headlines in 2001 when researchers carbon-dated material from the city back to 2627 B.C.

It is a must-see for archaeology enthusiasts.
Even though the ruins in the dusty, wind-swept Supe River Valley don't approximate in majesty the mountains that surround the famed Inca ruins at Machu Picchu, they are an unforgettable sight under the glow of a fiery sunset.
Dotted with pyramid temples, sunken plazas, housing complexes and an amphitheater, Caral is one of 20 sites attributed to the ancient Caral-Supe culture that run almost linearly from Peru's central coast inland up the Andes.
The ruins changed history when researchers proved that a complex urban center in the Americas thrived as a contemporary to ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt -- 1,500 years earlier than previously believed.
But much remains to be discovered about Caral and the Caral-Supe culture that flourished here for more than a thousand years.
Ruth Shady, a Peruvian archaeologist from San Marcos University, discovered Caral in 1994, and was stunned by its size and complexity.
"Caral combined size with construction volume, but also it was a planned city," she says.

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Peru finds ancient burial cave of warrior tribe

By Robin Emmott



LIMA, Peru (Reuters) - Archeologists have uncovered a 600-year-old, large underground cemetery belonging to a Peruvian warrior culture, thought to be the first discovery of its kind, an official said on Thursday.

After a tip-off from a farmer in Peru's northern Amazon jungle, archeologists from Peru's National Culture Institute last week found the 820-feet-(250-meter)deep cave that was used for burial and worship by the Chachapoyas tribe.

So far archeologists have found five mummies, two of which are intact with skin and hair, as well as ceramics, textiles and wall paintings, the expedition's leader and regional cultural director Herman Corbera told Reuters.

"This is a discovery of transcendental importance. We have found these five mummies but I believe there could be many more," Corbera said. "We think this is the first time any kind of underground burial site this size has been found belonging to Chachapoyas or other cultures in the region," he added.

The Chachapoyas, a white-skinned tribe known as the "Cloud People" by the Incas because of the cloud forests they inhabited in northern Peru, ruled the area from around 800 AD to around 1475, when they were conquered by the Incas.

GREAT WARRIORS

But their strong resistance to the Incas, who built an empire ranging from northern Ecuador to southern Chile from the 1400s until the Spanish conquest of the 1530s, earned them a reputation as great warriors.

They are best-known today by tourists for their stone citadel Kuelap, near the modern town of Chachapoyas.

In 1996, archeologists found six ancient burial houses containing several mummies, thought to belong to the Chachapoyas.

"The remote site for this cemetery tells us that the Chachapoyas had enormous respect for their ancestors because they hid them away for protection," Corbera said.

"Locals call the cave Iyacyecuj, or Enchanted Water in Quechua, because of its spiritual importance and its underground rivers," he added.

Corbera said the walls in the limestone cave near the mummies were covered with wall paintings of faces and warrior-like figures that may have been drawn to ward off intruders and evil spirits.

"The idea now is to turn this cave into a museum, but we've got a huge amount of research to do first and protecting the site is a big issue," Corbera said, adding that looters had already vandalized a small part of the cave in search of mummies or gold.

Archeologists have uncovered thousands of mummies in Peru in recent years, mostly from the Inca culture five centuries ago, including about 2,000 unearthed from under a shantytown near the capital Lima in 2002.

One of Peru's most famous mummies is "Juanita the Ice Maiden," a girl preserved in ice on a mountain.

Mummified dogs uncovered in Peru

From BBC News, Lima


Archaeologists in Peru have uncovered the mummified remains of more than 40 dogs buried with blankets and food alongside their human masters.

The discovery was made during the excavation of two of the ancient Chiribaya people who lived in southern Peru between AD 900 and AD 1350.

Experts say the dogs' treatment in death indicated the belief that the animals had an afterlife.
Such a status for pets has only previously been seen in ancient Egypt.

Hundreds of years before the European conquest of South America, the Chiribaya civilisation valued its dogs so highly that when one died, it was buried alongside family members.

'Distinct breed'

The dogs, which have been called Chiribaya shepherds for their llama-herding abilities, were not sacrificed as in other ancient cultures, but buried with blankets and food in human cemeteries.

Biological archaeologists have unearthed the remains of more than 40 dogs which were naturally mummified in the desert sand of Peru's southern Ilo Valley. Now they have teamed up with Peru's Kennel Club to try to establish if the dogs represent a new distinct breed indigenous to South America.

The country is full of breeds which arrived in the last few centuries, but they believe some dogs living today in southern Peru share the characteristics of their ancestors.

The Chiribaya dog looked rather like a small golden retriever with a medium-sized snout, beige colouring, and long hair.

The only other indigenous Peruvian canine is the hairless dog, which evolved over more than 2,000 years ago from Asian ancestors brought across the Bering Straits.
It was recognised as a distinct breed just 20 years ago.

Lost Cities of the Ancients: site of mass human sacrifice discovered in Peru

From BBC

Archaeologists working in Northern Peru have discovered one of the biggest sites of human sacrifice in pre-Hispanic South America.

Archaeologists working at Tucume made the sensational discovery last summer and it is featured exclusively in a new series, Lost Cities of the Ancients, which begins on Monday 4 September on BBC TWO at 9.00pm.

The discovery of the bodies of 119 men, women and children as young as five was made outside a temple in Tucume, a ruined city of 26 pyramids near Chiclayo.

The pyramid city was an important centre for the Lambeyeque civilisation which flourished in northern Peru from 1100 AD.

"The discovery of these human sacrifices outside the temple is one of the most important discoveries in the history of Peruvian archaeology," said Alfredo Narvaez, the Chief Archaeologist at the site.

Narvaez believes that dozens of these victims were ritually sacrificed in just a few days in the final days of the city, in an attempt to ward off catastrophe.

Shortly after the mass sacrifice, the city of pyramids was burnt and abandoned. It was the last city of pyramids ever built in South America.

Investigation of the bodies revealed that most of the victims had their throats slit, their heads decapitated and then their hearts hacked out of their chests.

Physical anthropologist J Marla Toyne, from the University of Tulane, who examined the skeletons, said: "Of the 119 individuals we recovered from this small area, some 90 per cent of them show cut marks in the neck and throat region. These patterns are very consistent across the group, suggesting it was almost a systematic execution."

She found no evidence that the victims had fought to avoid this violent death, or that they had been tied up: "For example, the cut marks across the throat are clean marks; there's no evidence of chatter as the knife moved, as the individual moved to avoid this activity. Most of them had their hands by their sides, or gently crossing their bodies; nor was there any evidence of any ropes or ligatures."

Archaeologists at Tucume believe the victims had probably been drugged with a chemical taken from the Amalya seed. These seeds were found near to where the sacrifices were carried out.

The drug can produce paralysis of the body, but can leave the victim aware of what is happening. It suggests the victims were aware of the terrifying ritual that was about to happen to them, but were physically unable to put up any resistance to it.

The 119 bodies were excavated from a small grid, just ten by ten metres across.

There is evidence that this space outside the temple was used to sacrifice people over hundreds of years, but that the number of sacrifices increased towards the end of the city.

Archaeologists think that sacrifices were often carried out in response to catastrophes in the world, in an attempt to appease the angry gods.

Narvaez believes that the dramatic increase in numbers of sacrifices at Tucume was in response to the chaos and fear that was unleashed by the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors in Peru in 1532.

Alfredo Narvaez said: "Probably in a very few days, dozens of sacrifices were carried out simultaneously so that this state of crisis could in some way be controlled."

It failed to change the course of history. And the city of Tucume was burnt and abandoned, ending a tradition of pyramid-building that stretched back thousands of years.

Lost Cities of the Ancients begins on 4 September 2006 at 9.00pm on BBC TWO.

The Cursed Valley of Pyramids, which contains the finding of the sacrifice, is the second programme in the series, and is shown on Tuesday 5 September, also at 9.00pm on BBC TWO.

InkaNatura note: You can see more information about Tucme here

Tucume archaeological information
Tour programs

Looted Peru treasure found in UK

Information by BBC

An ancient Peruvian headdress which was looted from an archaeological site almost 20 years ago has been found by police in London.

It is considered a national treasure and disappeared in 1988 after a tomb in northern Peru was raided and its contents sold on the black market.

It was handed to a firm of solicitors in central London by one of
its clients who did not know it was stolen.

The headdress, depicting a sea god, dates back to 700AD.

It is an example of ancient Peruvian Mochica civilisation art and is regarded by experts as one of the most important artefacts in Peruvian cultural heritage.

Dr Walter Alva, director of the Royal Tombs of Sipan Museum in Peru, described the seizure as "a very important moment in the worldwide war against illicit art and the looting of my country.

We are speaking about an archaeological object [of] the utmost historical and aesthetic importance, which is one of the most important ornaments of the ancient Peruvian cultures," he added.

It was recovered by officers from Scotland Yard's Art and Antiquities Squad, who will now send it back to Peru.

No-one has been arrested and the investigation is now in the hands of the Peruvian authorities.

The investigation also drew on the expertise of Michel Van Rijn, an art dealer with extensive experience of hunting for illicit and stolen works of art.

He said: "It is impossible to put a price on a piece of history and world heritage such as this because they never come on the market, but should it do so, it could potentially reach in excess of £1m."

InkaNatura note: Travel to the North of Peru is an incredible experience for those with deep interest in ancient cultures. You can see more information here

Tour programs
Archaeological information
Royal Tombs of Sipan Museum

Caral : The oldest city in the New World is located in Peru

Photo :: Special Project Arqueologico Caral - Supe ©

The ancient city of Caral located in the north of Lima, Supe Valley, is considered as the oldest city in the western Hemisphere. Radiocarbon dates show that monumental architecture there was under construction as early as 2627 BC and until about 2000 BC, in other words 4700 years old, contemporary with pyramids in Egypt and the ziggurats of Mesopotamia.

Other sites as old as Caral, do not approach the enormous size of Caral, (165 acres) and scope its architecture, The city has 6 large platforms mounds (pyramids), many small platforms, two sunken circular plazas and diverse architectural features including densely packed residences. (See map of location)

Interesting points :

• Peruvian archaeologist Ruth Shady thinks that Caral is a candidate to be the “mother city” in the Americas. This means that people moved from small family units to build cities of thousands of people.
• Archaeologists think that construction seems to be associated with the advent of irrigation agriculture in the Supe Valley.
• The ancient inhabitants of Caral expanded up river from the coast, developed agriculture (beans, sweet potatoes, chili, cotton, pacay and guayaba ) to support the growing population.
• Fish bones have been found and that revels that the civilization depended on fishing as well.
• Caral appears as the model for the urban design adopted by the Inca and the ancient pre Inca civilizations like Chavin, Moche, Lima, Wari, Chimu and others.
• Its strategic location allowed trade with other close valleys in the Coast and the Andes. The trade generates a dynamic economic process and savings making this city more powerful.
• In Caral there is not evidence of war: no weapons, not mutilated bodies.
• It had a theocratic government managed by priest and Scientifics who were in charged of the ceremonies, astronomical investigation and prepare calendars to organize the activities of the inhabitants.
• In one of the pyramids archaeologist found beautiful flutes made of condor and pelican bones.
• The constructions happened before ceramics and maize were introduced in the area.

Caral can be visited from Lima in a full day tour leaving early from Lima and returning late afternoon. InkaNatura can arrange visits to the area with professional tour guides or for those with a deep interest in archaeology we can offer archaeologist who will let you more about this interesting ancient city.

Links for more information :

• National geographic


• Archaeology magazine


• Caral Web


• Science magazine

Mummy of Tattooed Woman Discovered in El Brujo

Photo - National Geographic ©

A well-preserved tattooed mummy of a young woman has been discovered deep inside a mud-brick pyramid in El Brujo by archaeologists under the direction of scientist Regulo Franco
The 1,500-year-old mummy may shed new light on the mysterious Moche culture. The incredible mix of ornamental and military artifacts has experts speculating about this woman’s identity and her role in the Moche society.

For more information you can read the full article at national geographic.http://www7.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0606/feature2/index.html
Information additional in InkaNatura Website.The Brujo Archaeological Complex
The Brujo and Trujillo Tours

Ancient Calendar Unearthed in Peru

The Temple of the Fox (located in the hills Buena Vista in the Chillon Valley - north of Lima, peru) was unearthed in June 2004 by Robert Benfer, professor emeritus of anthropology at Missouri University.

Photos by National Geographic ©

Here Benfer’s team found the earliest known astronomical alignment and sculptures in the New World, suggesting that the Andeans used constellations to guide their lives and predict weather such as droughts and floods. It is considered as the oldest known observatory in the Americas and it was well-preserved because rainfall on the western side of Peru are not hard.

Aside from astronomic alignments, Benfer said his team also found ancient artwork on the 16-acre site, including a mural of a fox carved inside a painted llama. Radiocarbon dating of offerings in the temple's chambers suggest a date of around 2200 BCE

More information at:

• http://www.columbiamissourian.com/news/story.php?ID=19585
• http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/05/observatory-peru.html

A 1600-year-old royal mummy was found in the North part of Peru.

Archaeologists in Peru have discovered a 15-century-old mummy of a tattooed Moche woman in a Pyramid called Cao Viejo in ceremonial site called El brujo ( The Wizard) , located about an hour's drive north of Trujillo city and 300 miles north of Lima. http://www.inkanatura.com/en/moche-culture/moche-route-tour

The mummy, which dates to about A.D. 450, was entombed with a dazzling collection of weapons and jewelry. Without doubt this lady was member of royalty and revels the power of this woman in the Moche society. No other Moche woman like her has ever been found. "Based on our preliminary study, we think she was a ruler," says archaeologist Régulo Franco.

Photos by National Geographic ©

She was about 5 feet tall and died in her late 20’s. Apparently she was in good health with no signs of nutritional deficiencies, Although she had one tooth that would have become abscessed if she had lived longer. Her abdominal skin was wrinkled and collapsed, and bone scarring indicated the woman had given birth at least once.

The Moche is a fascinating sophisticated pre Inca culture that flourished from 100 to AD along the different valleys of the Northern Peruvian coastline. Some information about the Moches :

• They had a theocratic government system.
• They were expert architects. They built several huge pyramids of sun-dried adobe bricks. We can count Sipan Pyramids, Sun and Moon temples, Dos Cabezas and El Brujo among others.
• They diverted rivers into a network of irrigation canals for agricultural purposes.
• Its pottery is fascinating and helps us to learn about them. The pottery represents the daily life of the Moches, fishing, ceremonies, mythology and different combats. In the Larco Herrera Museum (Lima) there are special areas with thousands of ceramics including sexual acts.
• They were experts in metallurgical techniques. They used silver cooper and gold. We can admire their work in the Royal Tombs of Sipan Museum in Chiclayo.http://www.inkanatura.com/en/moche-culture/moche-route-tour
  
  Tourists and archaeology lovers visit Chiclayo and Trujillo to learn more about the ancient Peruvian cultures. Here you can find some tours in the Northhttp://www.inkanatura.com/en/moche-culture/moche-route-tour
  
  More information about the Tattooed mummy athttp://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/05/mummy-peru.html
  http://www.livescience.com/history/060516_peru_mummy.html

National Geographic Explores the North Cost of Peru again

The North coast of Peru features spectacular contrast between fertile valleys and stark deserts, all wedged in a thin strip between the cold waters of the world's richest fishing grounds and the highest tropical mountain.

This region boasts a rich archeological legacy of Pre-Inca civilizations that occupied these valleys from the First to the Fourteenth century AD. The most prominent of these were the Moche, Lambayeque and Chimu, who demonstrated great sophistication in ceramics, agriculture, and metallurgy.

Check this links:
Chiclayo and Trujillo tours
Archaeological study tour in Chachapoyas
Archaeological information
Photo gallery
About InkaNatura Travel

More info about News in 2004 May
http://www.inkanatura.com/news/2004/june/index.htm