Archaeologists working at the Huaca Colorada site in northern Peru have found "odd" signs of life in a half-excavated pyramid of the Moche culture.
"Often these pyramidal mounds were built as mortuaries more than anything else," said excavation co-leader Edward Swenson, according to a National Geographic article published Thursday.
"In most instances [a pyramid] is not where people live, it is not where they were cooking their food," the University of Toronto archaeologist added.
But the newly exposed 1,400-year-old flat-topped pyramid supported residences for up to a couple dozen elites, who oversaw and perhaps took part in copper production at the site, evidence suggests.
The pre-Inca pyramid dwellers likely presided over important rituals, feasted on roasted llama and guinea pig, and drank corn beer, according to archaeologists working at the site.
Among the signs of occupation are at least 19 adobe stands where large vessels of water and corn beer were stored, as well as scattered llama, dog, guinea pig, and fish bones and traces of coca leaves and red peppers.
"There's a far more robust domestic occupation than what we would have expected," said expedition co-leader John Warner, an archaeologist with the University of Kentucky.
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