Peru Archaeological

Choquequirao now offers camping areas, tourism services

2012-01-31T14:09:00.002-05:00

The paths to the archaeological site of Choquequirao in Cusco's Santa Teresa district now have camping areas and tourism services for a better visitor experience.

The regional government said that the works were carried out through the Copesco plan in response to increasing tourist visits to the area.The local population manages these places directly according to the agreement signed between the Copesco plan, the regional government of Cusco, the town of Santa Teresa and communities.

Choquequirao consists of nine groups of buildings of stone terraces, rooms and irrigation systems, distributed around a town square.It could be one of the lost cities in the valley of Vilcabamba, where the Incas took refuge in 1536.

More info about:

Huaca de la Luna: Peru's most beautiful ruin?

2011-12-22T11:14:00.000-05:00

Peru’s most beautiful ruins are not located at Machu Picchu. The Inca construction there is an example of masterful engineering, and has a jaw dropping location, but, in the end, the ruins themselves are a series of very well-built gray walls. I know, it’s not the Incas’ fault that their decorative elements were spirited away by dashing archaeologists, but that doesn’t change the experience for visitors today.

If you want to see the height of ancient, artistic creativity, you’ll have to head to an archaeological site on the other end of the country: the Huaca de la Luna. The site receives just 300 visitors per day, not because it is hard to get to (it is only about fifteen minutes by taxi from the center of Trujillo, Peru’s third-largest city), but because it has never been mythologized or marketed, which is a shame.

The pyramid was built by the Moche culture about 1,500 years ago- well before the Inca came to power in the southern Andes. Along with the Huaca del Sol, it book-ended a city of some 20,000 people in the Moche River valley, under the folds of the Cerro Blanco hill. The Huaca de la Luna was the religious center for the Moche, a site for sacrifices and rituals.

The ruins of the ancient Moche city, the Huaca del Sol, the Moche River valley.

One approaches the site today from the Trujillo suburb of Moche. Don’t be put-off by the pyramid’s external appearance: it looks like a massive pile of dirt and bricks, covered by some metal roofing. The good stuff is all inside.

What is the good stuff, you ask? Ancient friezes covering the interior walls of the temple, with their original, 1,500-year-old paint jobs. Because the Moche kept building new temples on the old site, the bricks of each new temple preserved the paintings of the old one.

Archaeologists have peeled back the layers to fin representations of gods and religious ceremonies. One massive room has images of Ai-Apaec, the principal Moche god, covering every wall, with different facial expressions. It’s hard not to ponder at the world view (and San Pedro cactus) that led to such art.

Ai apaec friezes

On an outside patio, your guide will explain which chambers were used for human sacrifices, and how the victims were selected through ritual warfare. Inside, the altar where their blood was consecreated to the gods is perfectly preserved, and the paintings around it have been maintained.

The most breath-taking site is one you’ll see on your way out of the pyramid. As you exit by the ancient ramp that served as the entrance to the temple, you will see the external wall of the final pyramid. Its entire side is covered in painted friezes, dating back a thousand years. Here, more than any other place I’ve been in Peru, it is easy to see what the ancient city looked like when it was occupied.

The external wall of the pyramid

One amazing aspect of the Huaca de la Luna site is that excavations have, basically, only begun. The ancient city is just being explored now, and archaeologists have not done excavation in the Huaca del Sol, which could hold similar artistic treasures. It’s an exciting, evolving attraction on the northern coast.

Cusco: Descubren momia de niño preinca en distrito de Livitaca

2011-12-19T13:13:00.000-05:00

Una momia infante preinca, de 50 centímetros de alto, fue hallada por personal de la Dirección Regional de Cultura, en buen estado de conservación, dentro de una de las tumbas del complejo arqueológico de Chiñisiri, jurisdicción del distrito de Livitaca, provincia de Chumbivilcas.

El hallazgo sorprendió al personal del ente cultural que logró divisar la existencia de la momia infante, cuando realizaban trabajos de recuperación de dicho complejo arqueológico, caracterizado por la existencia de tumbas preincas.

Según el arqueólogo Jorge Atauconcha, representante de la Dirección Regional de Cultura, se trata de un infante de unos 5 a 6 años de edad, probablemente de la cultura Wari, quien fue sepultado en las tumbas de Chiñisiri por alguna enfermedad que padeció.

El profesional informó que la momia será debidamente estudiada por personal de su institución con el propósito de conocer la antigüedad del hallazgo.

Entre tanto, acompañado de pobladores y autoridades, la pequeña momia fue internada dentro del local del municipio distrital de Livitaca para su conservación y estudio.

Restos descubiertos de noble Wari serán exhibidos por 15 días en la Casa Garcilaso

2011-02-24T11:30:00.000-05:00

Cusco, feb. 24 (ANDINA). A partir de hoy y durante 15 días se exhibirán en la Casa Garcilaso, los restos del noble perteneciente a la cultura Wari descubierto en el distrito de Vilcabamba, para que sean apreciados por la población nacional y los turistas, anunció el director regional de Cultura de Cusco, Juan Julio García Rivas.
La Casa Garcilaso es uno de los museos más visitados del Cusco y ocupa la casa natal del escrito Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, situado en la esquina de la calle Heladeros, a dos cuadras de la Plaza de Armas.

Asimismo, el director regional de Cultura de Cusco, anunció que solicitará el apoyo de la comunidad científica nacional e internacional para continuar con las investigaciones arqueológicas, por cuanto el hallazgo del noble Wari, tendría la misma importancia que el descubrimiento del Señor de Sipán.

Por su parte, el viceministro de Patrimonio Cultural e Industrias Culturales, Bernardo Roca-Rey, anunció que se extremarán las medidas de seguridad en la zona del hallazgo, para evitar los actos de pillaje como el “huaqueo”, debido a los objetos de valor encontrados en la tumba.

Entre los objetos de valor encontrados figuran un pectoral de plata, una máscara de plata, dos brazaletes de oro, dos báculos de madera forrados de plata, y un ornamento conformado por 234 láminas de plata, y tres collares con piedras preciosas de turquesa, lapislázuli, entre otras.

La cultura pre-Inca Wari floreció entre los años 600 y 1,200 de nuestra era, y se expandió por la costa, sierra y con el presente hallazgo evidencia su presencia también en la región de la selva.

Programas en el Norte

CARAL: CIUDAD MADRE DE TODAS LAS CIVILIZACIONES

2011-02-23T09:35:00.001-05:00

CARAL: CIUDAD MADRE DE TODAS LAS CIVILIZACIONES

http://www.inkanatura.com/caral-peru-oldest-city-americas.asp

1000-year-old mummies found in Peru

2010-10-23T15:40:00.000-05:00

Peruvian archaeologists have unearthed four perfectly preserved mummies at an ancient burial site in the capital city, Lima.

The mummies are more than 1000 years old and were found at the Huaca Pucllana, a pre-Inca temple located in the heart of Lima's Miraflores district.

Due to its central location, tomb looters have been stealing all sorts of archaeological treasures from the temple for centuries.

So for Peruvian archaeologist, Gladys Paz, it was a pleasant surprise when she found a tomb with a perfectly preserved roof.

Inside were four mummies - a main figure and three smaller ones which had lain there untouched for more than 11 centuries, according to ndtv.com.

Paz says the four mummies must now undergo numerous tests to determine their sex, age and the way they died.

Pieces of rich clothing, ceramics and other things including an ancient knitting kit were also found at the tomb.

Work has been on at this site for more than five years during which archaeologists have excavated 62 tombs, all of them previously looted.

The Wari who lived from 700AD to 1000 AD were warriors who moved from the mountains towards the Peruvian coast eventually conquering most of Peru including what is now Lima.

The Pucllana temple was their main burial site - used only for their elite.

After they were conquered by the Incas, the site was never reused.

Moche elites linked to copper industry lived on high, experts say

2010-10-23T14:15:00.010-05:00

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.

Odd Pyramid Had Rooftop Homes, Ritual Sacrifices?

2010-10-23T11:58:00.000-05:00

At rare Peru site, elites linked to copper industry lived on high, experts say.

John Roach

for National Geographic News

Published October 21, 2010

Yes, it's yielded human remains—including five females who may have been ritually sacrificed. But it's the signs of life that make a half-excavated Peruvian pyramid of the Moche culture stand out, archaeologists say.

"Often these pyramidal mounds were built as mortuaries more than anything else," said excavation co-leader Edward Swenson. (See pictures from the tomb of the Moche "king of bling.")

"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.

"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.

Pyramid Emerges

Thriving along Peru's arid northern coast from about A.D. 100 to 800, the Moche culture was composed of independently governed agricultural societies. These groups shared a common religion and a knack for irrigation systems, intricate ceramics, and metallurgy.

In August 2009 Swenson and colleagues began excavating a long mound at the roughly 60-acre (24-hectare) Huaca Colorada site in the Lamayaeque region's southern Jequetepeque Valley. The settlement dates to the Late Moche period, about A.D. 500 to 800.

During the first month of the dig, the team uncovered the mud-brick pyramid within the mound as well as the residences. Later digging turned up evidence of human sacrifice on a rooftop platform: detached body parts and the corpses of five young women, all with signs of ritual burning and one with a rope around her neck.

More info about Article of National Geographic

Other info about Northers Kingdoms

Polish archaeologists study development of ancient Peruvian cultures

2010-06-25T18:54:00.000-05:00

A team of archaeologists from the Polish University of Wroclaw is currently conducting research studies on the development of ancient cultures settled in the lands between the headwaters of the Tambo River in Puno and Punta de Bombon in Arequipa.

The project is part of an agreement between Poland's University of Wroclaw and Arequipa-based Universidad Católica de Santa María to learn more about the ancient peoples who once lived in these southern Peruvian regions.

Augusto Belán Franco, director of the Arequipa-based university’s Museum of Archaeology, said that one of the main cultures settled in this territory was the Chiribayas, who lived in what is now the Ilo province in Moquegua, near Arequipa.

Belan pointed out that the presence of the Chiribayas in the area is known for years, although archaeologists have yet to find the evidence of ancient ruins and settlements.

"Hence the importance of this archaeological project which began two years ago," he added.

Special Interest & Study Tours

Over 13400 tourists hiked Inca Trail to Machu Picchu since reopening

2010-06-08T12:04:00.004-05:00

Over 13400 domestic and foreign tourists hiked Inca Trail to Machu Picchu archeological Park since its reopening on April 1, the anthropologist and head of the archeological park Fernando Astete Victoria reported..

He also noted that the tourist flow is normal along the alternative route toward the country's main tourist destination affected by landslides.

The route is lined with 17 archaeological sites: Salapunku, Q’anabamba, Willkarakay, Q’entimarka, Patahuasi, Runkuraqay, Sayaqmarka, Qonchamarka, Phuyupatamarka, Yunkapata, Wiñaywayna, Intipunku, Choquesuysuy, Chachabamba, Waynaq’ente, Torontoy and Qorihuayrachina.

“The National Institute of Culture (INC) is responsible for the maintenance of Inca Trail as well as its monitoring and surveillance in any emergency case,” the anthropologist and head of the Park said after remarking that tourists are primarily young people.

According to INC figures, about 200 tourists walk the Inca Trail to visit Machu Picchu daily.

Archaeologists found pre-Hispanic tombs in northern Peru

2010-05-23T10:49:00.000-05:00

Peruvian archaeologists discovered 17 pre-Hispanic tombs, reminiscence of the Chimu and Chimu-Inca (ca. 1100 - 1500 AD), two of which belonged to nobles of the past.

According to Juan Martinez Fiestas, head of the team of archaeologists, the discovery was made in the archaeological site of Jotoro, located in Lambayeque region, and involves 17 funerary contexts, of which seven have already been unearthed," El Comercio daily reported.

The researchers turned their attention to two tombs whose shape approximates that of the letter “L”.

"Tombs involve burial-chambers that house human remains encased in cane coffins with fine ceramic objects, cotton sheets and Spondylus shell ornaments," the local newspaper said.

Resources: North Kingdoms Maps

Suggest program, The Moche Route: Chiclayo and Trujillo Tour

Northern Peru offers great beaches, marvellous archaeological sites

2010-04-29T10:45:00.000-05:00

People embarking on a gap year tour of South America might want to make a stay in Peru one of their priorities.

This is because the Andean country has plenty to offer, according to Peru's Export and Tourism Promotion Board (PromPeru), i-to-i.com reports.

A PromPeru spokeswoman advised that there are other areas to visit in the destination apart from the usual tourist haunts such as Machu Picchu.

The north of Peru could be of particular interest, the expert noted, as investments in the sector are arriving to provide better tourist infrastructure and facilities.

She remarked: "The north of Peru is characterised by its beautiful beaches and warm weather during most parts of the year."

The industry expert recommended travellers head to the Kuelap Fortress and Huaca of the Sun and of the Moon, as visitors will be able to learn more about pre-Inca cultures that are as "marvellous" as the Inca civilisation.

According to a report published by Cusco’s Committee on Tourist-Cultural Integrated Services, around 70,000 visitors have gone to alternative archaeological sites to Machu Picchu this year.

Chiclayo, Trujillo, Cajamarca, Kuelap and Chachapoyas Tours
Peru Tours:

Peru Eco Adventure
Peru Explorer

Discover Inca Ruins near Lake Titicaca

2010-04-21T07:48:00.013-05:00

The ruins of Sillustani are on lake Umayo near Puno. (Photo: Richard Hirano/El Comercio)

The chullpas, an Andean mausoleum, stand out in the horizon at the archaeological site of Sillustani. These funerary constructions constantly remind visitors of the respect that the leaders of the ancient Andean civilizations awoke.

This cemetery in the Highlands not only contrasts the world of the living with the world of the dead, but it also is a tribute that revives the hegemonic class of cultures like Pucara, Colla, Tiahuanaco and Inca from centuries ago.

Lake Umayo adorns the entrance to the archaeological site. While walking along the path that leads to Sillustani, you will notice the importance of water within the pre-Hispanic cultural activities.

The cultivating system organized in successive plots of land and water (the latter of about 25 to 30 centimeters deep) is worth noting.

You can also see small handmade stone channels of stone, which go from the shore of the lake to the top of the mountain where the cemetery is located. Know that these aqueducts had basically two functions: preventing stagnation of water in the upper parts to prevent damage to the shrines of the leaders and also serving as a channel for the blood of the sacrifices to reach the Umayo Lake.

Higher up it is possible to see what remains of a ceremonial spot in Sillustani. It consists of two circles: the larger one represents the sun and the smaller one, the moon. The solstices, for example, were ideal dates, due to their energy, to make payments to Earth.

An icon that goes unnoticed along the way are some standing stones about 1.70 meters tall, rectangular and about 35 centimeters thick. According to Julio Suaña, Titilaka hotel guide, “these had the religious significance that has the cross in Catholicism has today.”

The Towers

When traveling Sillustani several questions arise: did those that lie within the highest and most imposing chullpas occupy the most important posts? Not necessarily.

As Suaña says, the whole place is sacred because it is occupied by the nobility of several pre-Inca and Inca cultures. Whether the stone tower that served as the tombstone was located higher or lower was not a significant factor, because what was important was that they were facing the sun and the lake.

However, the so-called Twin Towers prove that there was some hierarchy. In both cases, the stones that were placed at the entrance of the chullpa have twelve angles, which, according to Suaña, “represent the twelve months of the year and the number of important families in the area.”

Another one of the chullpas that is most recognized is that of the lizard, which is twelve meters high. It is named like that due to the reptile image that is engraved on the top.

Also pay attention to the rocks with small circular excavations in the interior. These highlight the gear method used by the Incas to build the most modern chullpas (smooth texture on the outside) in Sillustani.

Once on top, do not miss the breathtaking view of the Hualloc Plateau, surrounded by the Umayo and the typical landscapes of the Altiplano.

At the exit you should pay attention to the puma-shaped rocks that guard either side of the stairs to the cemetery (that used to be the entrance).

After the tour take the opportunity to buy souvenirs such as Andean knit hats or sweaters in the various crafts stands, visit the site museum or have something hot in the simple little café, located just outside the archaeological center.

(Photo: Michel)

Sillustani ruins

The entrance to Sillustani is controlled by the INC-Puno and costs S/. 6.50 for adults, S/. 3.50 for college students and S/.1 for kids.

Hours are Monday to Sunday, 7 am to 7 pm.

If you walk at a good pace you can finish the tour in 60 to 90 minutes.

It is a good idea to bring a windbreaker because the breeze is freezing at high altitudes. Its best to do the tour during the morning or early afternoon when the wind is less strong.

If you are not traveling with an agency, a taxi from Puno (34 kilometers north) will charge you around S/. 60

Suggest Tour: Peru Explorer 19 days/ 18 nights

The huacas of Lima, part two: Huaca Puruchuco

2010-03-31T12:00:00.002-05:00

Our second visit is to Huaca Puruchuco located in the district of Ate - Vitar. The Huaca Puruchuco consists of two distinct parts. The first and most obvious part is the restored palace. There is some discrepancy in the literature about this palace. Some think the palace was entirely Incan while others think is was first used by an Ichma chief and subsequently taken over by the Inca curaca, a local magistrate.

Secondly there is a vast cemetery that was used for the burial of the Inca and their elite. A nice museum is also located on the site with many objects discovered during excavation and restoration of the palace and cemetery. Puruchuco is a Quechua word meaning something similar to “feathered hat” or “feathered helmet.”

Excavation and restoration of the Palace began in the 1950s under the direction of Dr. Arturo Jimenez Borja. His decision to restore the site has come under criticism with the new thinking in archaeology. Still, it makes for an impressive site to be seen in its current state. The palace was constructed in either the intermediate late period (900-1450 AD) or early in the Late horizon period (1450 – 1532 AD) with four distinct areas. A single entrance to the compound takes you into the first area, a large plaza where the curaca would hold audiences with the people to receive tribute. In addition it was probably used for public religious ceremonies and banquets. The curaca and his court would be located on the large elevated platform in this area during these events.

The second area you enter served as the living quarters for the permanent residents. It includes a kitchen and other rooms that were used for various activities in daily life. Here you will see tools used in the grinding of corn for cooking as well as large ceramic pots discovered on the site.

The third area contains special architectural details that indicate it was probably used for private religious ceremonies. There is a door in this area, small and low, which is in the Ichma style of architecture. It reminds me of a key hole. This and other Ichma architectural details in the palace may indicate that the structure was first used by a leader of this culture. Another beautiful detail in this area is the six triangular niches in one of the walls. It is postulated that these

The fourth and final area contains a small courtyard and terrace possibly used in the preparation for and storage of perishable products. Later excavation of the area found objects that tend to support this theory. The Palace is like a maze and when you tour it, at times you feel as if you will not be able to find your way out. There a many long and narrow passageways and stairs which can get confusing. Outside the palace is a stairway around the back that takes you up to several viewing points where you can see the structure from above. In 1956 an urn was discovered in the palace containing 21 Inca khipu. The khipu was a system of knots tied in strands of string. It is still being investigated as to whether this is a form of language, an accounting system or both.

In the late 1990’s the archaeologist Guillermo Cock made an amazing discovery. Next to the Palace and occupying the hills and surrounding area as many as 10,000 bodies of Inca men, women and children are believed to be buried. More than 2,000 of these mummies were rescued by Cock and his team. Invaluable information on the life and times of the Inca were saved by this effort. It will take decades for the scientists to evaluate all the findings. Once those studies are done, the mummies and artifacts will be returned and placed in a museum.

There were 50,000 to 60,000 artifacts recovered with the mummies. Entire families were found in large mummy bundles, wrapped in layers of cotton and beautiful textiles. Some of the bundles clearly contained the Inca elite as their bundles were topped with false heads. A lot of the mummies were in excellent condition although some had deteriorated due to water seepage from the local residents. There are a few of the opened graves near the palace and visible when you visit the site.

Visiting this second site has taught me that there is a lot more depth to the Huacas of Lima than I originally thought. Huaca or Sacred Place has many meanings to Peruvians and can stretch through many ages. I am already looking forward to visiting the next Huaca and telling you all about it.

Local residents help preserve archaeological site in Lambayeque, Peru

2010-03-27T16:03:00.004-05:00

The town of Ventarron, which houses the archaeological complex of the same name, has become a model of communal participation.

Local residents of this town, located in the district Pomalca, in Lambayeque region, have realized that taking care of these ancient ruins, which were previously used as a quarry to produce bricks, can also improve their living conditions.

Therefore, everyone is now involved in making their town a new tourist destination in Lambayeque.

Ignacio Alva Meneses, the resident archaeologist of the complex, and the manager of this project, found here in 2007 what is considered at present the oldest polychrome mural of America in this place, that has been called Templo del Venado Cautivo (Temple of Captive Deer), which depicts hunting scenes from ancient times.

The place also contains a series of tombs and a singular cross-shaped structure also known as chakana, a quechua name.

More Info:
Introduction to the Archaeologicalof the North of Peru

New ceremonial huaca found in archaeological complex Salapunku, Cusco

2010-03-25T08:41:00.002-05:00

Cusco’s National Institute of Culture (INC) workers found a ceremonial huaca in the archaeological complex of Salapunku when carrying out archaeological restoration and investigation works.

A quena inside a camelid’s skeleton was found in the huaca, which is located in the sector IV of the archaeological center on the kilomenter 83 of the Cusco-Machu Picchu railway.

The huaca is on a semicircular structure on the prehispanic path that goes by the right margin of the Vilcanota River towards Machu Picchu to the apu Wakaywillka, which according to investigation, was a sacred space for rituals and offerings to the apus in the valley.

Salapunku or ‘Door of the Room” has walls similar to those of Sacsayhuaman -of pre-Inca and Inca architecture- which could have been a fort for the attacks and possible invasions, besides from being the access control door to the Vilcanota Valley.

This year, Cusco’s INC is carrying out works of restoration, revaluation and archaeological investigation, elimination and extraction of surplus material resulting from landslides and erosions on the top of mountain La Veronica.

The huacas of Lima, Part One: Huaca Pucllana

2010-03-19T08:49:00.003-05:00

Another of the many hidden treasures of Lima is its numerous huacas, or sacred places. They are located throughout the city and are in various stages of excavation, restoration or total neglect. Some of the huacas (pronounced wah-kas) were built by the people of the Lima Culture from 200 to 700 AD and taken over by cultures such as the Wari, Ichma and Inca after the Lima Culture’s demise. Others were built by the other cultures themselves.

In this series of articles I will take you on a visit to a few of them. The first will be the Huaca Pucllana located in the district of Miraflores

Archaeologists think that the Huaca Pucllana was one of the more important ones in the area. The Lima Culture flourished in the Chancay, Chillon, Rimac and Lurin Valleys. During this time they built several ceremonial centers to serve as religious and administrative centers. In size it is a mere shadow of its former glory since urbanization has destroyed and covered much of the temples, surrounding plazas and buildings. The religious portion of the center was used for ceremonies to worship the gods of the Sea and Moon. The names of these gods are lost to time as the Lima people did not have a written language. Archaeologists have theories about the purposes and ceremonies made from art work found on pottery and cloth in burial pits at the site. Formal excavation and restoration of the site began in 1981.

The huge pyramidal Temple at the center of the complex had seven levels or plazas on which different ceremonies were held. Women and children were sacrificed to the gods. Some of the remains found on one of the levels indicate that they were buried alive after ingesting powerful hallucinogens. Because of this and the worship of the sea and moon, some think that the Lima Culture may have been a matriarchal society. In the plaza on the very top level of the pyramid sacrifices of corn, cloth, ceramics, needles and other items were found buried as offerings to the gods. They have also found post holes which held large wooden poles that did not support a roof. It is thought that these might have represented ancestors or held idols of their gods.

The pyramid and walls of the administrative complex are an engineering marvel in themselves. The site was built using handmade mud bricks which were then dried in the sun. No molds were used in the making of bricks for the original construction. These bricks were then stacked in library book fashion with small spaces between them. This served to absorb shocks from the many earthquakes felt in this area and resulted in minimal damage to the structures when they occurred. There are no chambers or passage ways inside the pyramid itself. All ceremonies and burials were done in the plazas.

One of the interesting ceremonies performed on the plazas was the pottery breaking ritual. The people would spend great amounts of time making large vessels and decorating them with symbols from the sea like the shark. Then in an act of devotion they would break the large vessels with a stone and symbolically sacrifice their labor in making them to the gods.

In time the Lima Culture went though changes in their ideology and society probably as a result of an influx of ideas from the southern Andes and the huacas were abandoned. Some think that they were even covered up with sand and dirt to protect them from other invading societies. In 700 AD the Wari, a military society, came into the area. They used the huge mounds to bury their elite as did the Ichma which followed them. In time people forgot about these centers and with the expansion of modern society, from 1940 on, they were used as dumping grounds for trash and trails for dirt bikes. Some were simply bulldozed in the construction of new homes and roads.

This site is definitely worth a visit if you are spending a little time in Lima. The cost of entry is 10 soles, about $US 3.50. A guide is provided with this fee but they are all volunteers so a tip is appreciated at the end of their tour. Included in the tour are a walkthrough of a small zoo area containing wild ducks, llamas and cuy (guinea pigs) as well as samples of native plant life and crops. There is also a small museum on the site containing artifacts found during excavations of the site. It is estimated that it will take another 15 to 20 years to finish excavations and restorations to the site.

Peru announces Machu Picchu reopening in April

2010-03-16T09:57:00.000-05:00

PromPeru today surprised ITB in Berlin by announcing the re-opening of the vital rail link to the ruins of Machu Picchu.

The line was severely damaged in heavy rains and floods which hit the country in January and eroded railway tracks between Cuzco, Ollantaytambo and the Inca citadel.

Following the successful completion of track repairs ahead of schedule, it has been confirmed that, weather permitting, PeruRail will recommence its Vistadome train service to Aguas Calientes , the station for Machu Picchu Pueblo, on March 29.

The Inca Citadel of Machu Picchu will reopen to tourists on April 1, travelmole.com reports.

Initially train services will operate between Pisacucho, a station beyond Ollantaytambo, and Aguas Calientes, with a replacement bus service from Wanchaq Station in Cuzco bringing passengers by road to Pisacucho.

The train journey will take 1 hour 20 minutes and the drive approximately 2 hours 30 minutes.

It is estimated that it will be possible to make the entire journey from Poroy station in Cuzco to Machu Picchu by rail from July 2010, subject to favourable weather conditions.

PeruRail also operates a backpacker service and the luxury Hiram Bingham train between Cuzco and Machu Picchu.

The backpacker train will resume at the end of April and the Hiram Bingham will be back in operation at the end of June.

Kuelap: Machu Picchu alternative

2010-03-10T10:34:00.003-05:00

Machu Picchu may be closed to visits for several months, but you don’t have to cancel your Peru trip. In Peru’s less-visited northern highlands, the country’s second-most thrilling archaealogical site, Kuelap, is still open. Rain is not an issue up here.

Kuelap, about 22 to 24 hours from Lima by bus (with changes in the coastal city Chiclayo, and another at Chachapoyas), was home to the mysterious Chachapoyas, or ‘People of the Clouds,’ from AD800 to the 14th century.

Visitors reach the monumental stone-fortified city atop a craggy limestone mountain via a two- or three-hour trek from nearby villages. A number of guesthouses are in the village nearby, such as Tingo (a 9.8-km walk away). Another option is the lovely hacienda-style compound Estancia Chillo.

With more stone than the Great Pyramid of Egypt, Kuelap had a population of about 3500 residents. You enter via three deep, lean gates — an ingenious security system to force attacking parties into easily defeated single file. There are ruins of over 400 circular dwellings across three levels, including a lookout tower with excellent views of the city surrounded by bromeliad-covered trees and exotic orchids.

More information
Kuelap, Cajamarca
Kuelap photogallery

Lost city of 'cloud people' found in Peru

2010-03-09T13:18:00.004-05:00

Archaeologists have discovered a lost city carved into the Andes Mountains by the mysterious Chachapoya tribe

The settlement covers some 12 acres and is perched on a mountainside in the remote Jamalca district of Utcubamba province in the northern jungles of Peru's Amazon.

The buildings found on the Pachallama peak are in remarkably good condition, estimated to be over 1,000 years old and comprised of the traditional round stone houses built by the Chachapoya, the 'Cloud Forest People'.

The area is completely overgrown with the jungle now covering much of the settlement but explorers found the walls of the buildings and rock paintings on a cliff face.

The remote nature of the site appears to have protected the site from looters as archaeologists found ceramics and undisturbed burial sites.

Archaeologist Benedicto Pérez Goicochea said: "The citadel is perched on the edge of an abyss.

"We suspect that the ancient inhabitants used this as a lookout point from where they could spot potential enemies."

The ruins were initially discovered by local people hacking through the jungle. They were drawn to the place due to the sound of a waterfall.

The local people "armed with machetes opened a path that arrived at the place where they saw a beautiful panorama, full of flowers and fauna, as well as a waterfall, some 500 metres high," said the mayor of Jamalca, Ricardo Cabrera Bravo.

Initial studies have found similarities between the new discovery and the Cloud Peoples' super fortress of Kulep, also in Utcubamba province, which is older and more extensive that the Inca Citadel of Machu Picchu, but has not been fully explored or restored.

Little is known about the Chachapoya, except that they had been beaten into submission by the mighty Incas in 1475.

When in 1535 the Spanish Conquistadores arrived in Peru, they found willing allies in the Cloud People for their fight against the Incas.

Spanish texts from the era describe the Cloud People as ferocious fighters who mummified their dead.

They were eventually wiped out by small pox and other diseases brought by the Europeans.

The women of the Chachapoya were much prized by the Incas as they were tall and fair skinned. The Chronicler Pedro Cieza de León offers wrote of the Chachapoyas.

"They are the whitest and most handsome of all the people that I have seen in Indies, and their wives were so beautiful that because of their gentleness, many of them deserved to be the Incas' wives and to also be taken to the Sun Temple."

Nasca Lines Decoded premieres Sunday on Nat Geo

2010-03-04T00:48:00.001-05:00

Stretching for thousands of kilometres across the desert terrain of southern Peru is one of mankind’s greatest mysteries: immense lines – carved as animals; humans; and geometric shapes.

While popular theories about the use of the Nasca lines have ranged from ancient race tracks to astronomical calendars and even alien landing strips, new scientific insight and the unearthing of a headless body – may be the keys to finally unlocking the mystery.

Seeking answers from above and on the ground, National Geographic Channel refutes decades of misunderstanding in Nasca Lines Decoded, premiering on Sunday, 7 March at 20:00, to reveal why these lines were made by the prehistoric Nasca people who inhabited the desert as early as 100 BC.

Using a high-tech robotic helicopter, scientists create the first-ever digital map of the Nasca Lines, which criss-cross the desert to form baffling mazes to provide a complete picture that links the enigmatic lines to the desert landscape and ancient settlements.

Data shows the latitude; longitude; length area; elevation; and distance from other objects to allow scientists to test theories of the lines in unprecedented new detail.

Living in an environment like this on the edge of survival may have created an intense relationship to the Nasca deities, and in Nasca Lines Decoded, scientists investigate the extreme measures the Nasca may have taken to ensure favour with the deities.

And, when archaeologist and National Geographic grantee Christina Conlee uncovers the skeleton of a young male, ceremonially buried, but showing gruesome evidence of decapitation, researchers identify some important clues to what role these lines may have played in Nasca life – and death.

Severed heads are a common symbol on Nasca pots, and in the grave where the male skeleton is found, a striking ceramic 'head jar' illustrates a decapitated head with a tree sprouting from its skull. But, was this an execution or an offering of human sacrifice? And what can the location of the skeleton; its burial state; and the skeleton itself tell scientists about the true purpose of the Nasca Lines?

Generations of Nasca line builders toiled in intense heat to create one of the most awe-inspiring enigmas ever developed by man. While the earliest lines were formed in shapes of deities and animals, later Nasca lines were larger and more geometric.

The construction was simple, but effective – workers marked up the lines using wooden poles and cotton strings, and then piled discarded stones along the sides. Lines would take many days to construct with workers suffering in the harsh desert conditions.
Because the Nasca people were so dependent on favourable rainfall, scientists now believe that the Nasca lines were open-air temples, used to pray for water.

Sweeping imagery captures the majestic beauty of the Nasca lines and cutting-edge digital map imagery offers crucial understanding about the Nasca lines positioning.

Dramatic recounts and expert testimony transport viewers to prehistoric times in the southern desert of Peru to give a robust look at Nasca life

"Mythical" Temple Found in Peru

2010-02-13T12:40:00.002-05:00

#
Human Sacrifice

Image courtesy Carlos Wester La Torre

January 28, 2010—A thousand-year-old temple complex (including a tomb with human sacrifice victims, shown in a digital illustration) has been found under the windswept dunes of northwestern Peru, archaeologists say.

The discovery of the complex, excavated near the city of Chiclayo (map) between 2006 and late 2009, has injected a dose of reality into the legend of Naylamp, the god who supposedly founded the pre-Inca Lambayeque civilization in the eighth century A.D., following the collapse of the Moche civilization.

That's because evidence at the Chotuna-Chornancap archaeological site indicates the temple complex may have belonged to people claiming to have descended from Naylamp—suggesting for the first time that these supposed descendants existed in the flesh.

The sophisticated Lambayeque culture, also known as the Sicán, were best known as skilled irrigation engineers until being conquered in A.D. 1375 by the Chimú, a civilization also based along Peru's arid northern coast.

Archaeologists have been "trying to decode the legend's mystery" for a century, said dig leader Carlos Wester La Torre, director of the Brüning National Archaeological Museum in Lambayeque. "The goal was to understand the possible relations between the oral legend and archaeological evidence."

Within the newfound temple complex is a pyramid-shaped tomb, called Huaca Norte, which was filled with the skeletons of 33 women.

(Related: "Mummy of Tattooed Woman Discovered in Peru Pyramid.")

Two skeletons still have their original hair and some (top row) are mummified. All of them show cut marks, meaning they were likely tortured as part of human-sacrifice rituals.

"Women are traditionally associated with fertility," La Torre said. "They are offered in religious ceremonies in return for more fertility [and other beneficial events]—like rain, for instance."

(Related: "Tombs of Pre-Inca Elite Discovered Under Peru Pyramid.")

—Sabrina Valle in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

January 29, 2010

#
Fit for a Founding God?

Photograph courtesy Carlos Wester La Torre

Part of the newfound complex, a temple with a throne (pictured against far wall) suggests that people claiming to be descendants of Naylamp, the mythical founder of the Lambayeque civilization, actually existed, archaeologists said in January 2010.

That's because "the creation of the building matches in time with the legend's emergence," dig leader La Torre said.

Also, in Lambayeque folklore "only in the Naylamp legend [is] a throne ... used by high-ranking characters to reinforce power and authority."

According to legend, after the Moche civilization had collapsed in northwestern Peru, Naylamp arrived from the ocean with a huge fleet of rafts and warriors to begin a new empire.

(See more temple and tomb pictures.)

January 29, 2010

#
Legendary Seat of Power

Photograph courtesy Carlos Wester La Torre

The most important discovery in the thousand-year-old Lambayeque temple in Peru was the throne (pictured), thought to have been used by Naylamp's supposed descendants.

From this perch, a ruler would impose and reinforce his political, religious, and military power. The small recess in front of the throne was used for offerings, archaeologists say.

Up to a hundred workers excavated the two new buildings, which had been untouched for more than a thousand years.

January 29, 2010

#
Return to Glory

Image courtesy Carlos Wester La Torre

Archaeologists and historians combined forces to recreate scenes that may have taken place during the Lambayeque culture's heyday, around A.D. 1000. In a computer-generated image, a ruler seated at the throne is flanked by officials.

(Also see: "'Spider God' Temple Found in Peru.")

January 29, 2010

#
Lord of Sicán

Photograph courtesy Carlos Wester La Torre

An ancient ceremonial knife called a tumi (pictured in the Brüning National Archaeological Museum) shows a Lambayeque figure sitting on a throne—just like the throne recently discovered at the Naylamp temple in Peru, archaeologists said in January 2010.

These crescent-shaped knives used by the Lambayeque culture bore the likeness of a deity called the Lord of Sicán. The richly clothed figure is generally shown with winged shoulders and holding a sphere, representing the moon, and a knife, which is associated with power and sacrificial rituals, archaeologists say.

January 29, 2010

#
Trappings of Power

Image courtesy Carlos Wester La Torre

The presence of a throne—used only by the god Naylamp in Lambayeque folklore—and other indicators in the newfound temple, such as an adjacent room for religious ceremonies, suggest that the Lambayeque people viewed their rulers, thought to be Naylamp's descendants, as semidivine figures.

Based on input from Lambayeque experts, the digital illustration above shows how a Naylamp descendant may have appeared on the throne—surrounded by symbols of natural and supernatural power.

The ruler's garments and accoutrements—including "wings" and a knife—evoke the Lord of Sicán. The ball in his hand and white disks on his throne represent the moon, sacred to the Sicán.

His clothes are detailed with multiple iterations of the roughly diamond-shaped Andean cross, representing the Southern Cross constellation and symbolizing the heavens, Earth, and the underworld.

Like the Lord of Sicán on the knife in the previous picture, this man too is imagined with a stylized arc of ocean waves on his headdress.

"The legend says this divine figure, Naylamp, came from the sea and inaugurated the Lambayeque culture," dig leader La Torre said. "So the sea is very associated with power and strength" among the ancient Lambayeque.

January 29, 2010

#
Under Naylamp's Temple

Image courtesy Carlos Wester La Torre

The tomb found in the newfound complex has three levels. In the third, underground level–difficult to photograph and so represented here by an illustration—women's skeletons were found in groups.

"DNA tests being run [in] the United States will determine if they all belong to the same family," which could lead to new understanding of the ancient practices at the site, dig leader La Torre said in January 2010.

Already the temple-complex discovery is shedding new light on the ancient Lambayeque people, whose descendants still live in Peru, and on Naylamp himself.

"Today Naylamp is very alive in the Lambayque region," said dig leader La Torre, referring to the god whose self-professed descendants are thought to have sat on this throne. The name has graced schools, streets, parks—even children, he said.

January 29, 2010

Tourists visit archaeological ruins in Trujillo despite heavy rains

2010-02-10T08:25:00.001-05:00

Despite heavy rains that lashed the northern city of Trujillo the past four days, a total of 1404 Peruvian and foreign tourists have visited the archaeological complex of Huaca del Sol y La Luna in La Libertad region.

Archaeological site director Ricardo Morales pointed out that bad weather has not affected tourist arrivals.

“On average, a little over 300 domestic and 396 foreign tourists visit the ruins of Huaca de la Luna everyday,” he explained.

Morales mentioned that during the rainy days the protection systems worked well protecting areas of the monument from being affected by the water.

Around 11000 square meters of the archeological area are protected with permanent and temporal coatings that work with modern systems of drainage.

More information:

Source: Andina News

Archaeologists find 5,500-year-old plaza in Peru

2009-08-28T10:04:00.001-05:00

By Marco Aquino

LIMA (Reuters) - A ceremonial plaza built 5,500 years ago has been discovered in Peru, and archaeologists involved in the dig said on Monday carbon dating shows it is one of the oldest structures ever found in the Americas.

A team of Peruvian and German archaeologists uncovered the circular plaza, which was hidden beneath another piece of architecture at the ruins known as Sechin Bajo, in Casma, 229 miles (370 km) north of Lima, the capital. Friezes depicting a warrior with a knife and trophies were found near the plaza.

"It's an impressive find; the scientific and archaeology communities are very happy," said Cesar Perez, the scientist at Peru's National Institute of Culture who supervised the project. "This could redesign the history of the country."

Prior to the discovery at Sechin Bajo, archaeologists considered the ancient Peruvian citadel of Caral to be one of the oldest in the Western Hemisphere, at about 5,000 years.

Scientists say Caral, located a few hours drive from Sechin Bajo, was one of six places in the world -- along with Mesopotamia, Egypt, China, India and Mesoamerica -- where humans started living in cities about 5,000 years ago.

"The dating done by the German archaeologists puts it at about 5,500 years," Perez said of the plaza, which has a diameter of about 46 feet (14 metres).

Earlier finds near Sechin Bajo had been dated at 3,600 years, and there may be other pieces of the citadel older than the plaza.

"We've found other pieces of architecture underneath the plaza that could be even older," German Yenque, an archaeologist at the dig site, told Reuters. "There are four or five plazas deeper down, which means the structure was rebuilt several times, perhaps every 100 to 300 years."

Hundreds of archaeological sites dot the country, and many of the ruined structures were built by cultures that preceded the powerful Incan empire, which reached its peak in the 16th century, just before Spanish conquerors arrived in what is now Peru.

There are so many archaeological treasures that tomb robbing is a widespread problem in the Andean country.

Yenque said the scientists are filling in the site with dirt to preserve it and plan to resume excavation of the deeper floors when they get more grants to fund the project.

"We are lucky it was never destroyed by tomb robbers; that is why we are covering it up now," Yenque said.

(Reporting by Marco Aquino, writing by Terry Wade, editing by Eric Walsh)

Tomb find reveals pre-Inca city

2009-08-26T12:24:00.000-05:00

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.

Sican was a very organised society

Izumi Shimada"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.

Trading goods

The burial site sits on Peru's northern coast, near the town of Ferrenafe.

Discoveries in the tomb complex include tumis formed from an alloy of silver, copper and gold; masks, breastplates and ceramics.

The site contains at least 20 tombs, making it a "religious city"

Buried in a pyramid 30m (100ft) long, archaeologists found the bones of a woman in her early 20s surrounded by figurines of Sican gods, ceramics and objects in copper and gold.

Another set of bones, clearly from a person of some stature, were found in a seated position accompanied by a metallic crown, part of a thorny oyster, and various ceramic objects including a vase.

The tumis are a prize find, because until now the knives have come to scientists from tomb raiders. Finding them in situ would allow a closer understanding of their role in Sican culture, researchers said.
One of the tumis features a representation of Naylamp, the mythical founder of Sican society who according to legend emerged from the sea and became a god.

The Sican were noted for producing gold, silver and copper in quantities which were substantial for the period.

They traded shells and stones with societies in what are now Ecuador, Chile and Colombia.

Their civilisation had already declined by the time that the mightiest of Peruvian cultures, the Inca, rose to prominence about AD 1200.

Lost society tore itself apart

2009-08-26T09:14:00.001-05:00

Two thousand years ago, a mysterious and little known civilisation ruled the northern coast of Peru. Its people were called the Moche.

They built huge and bizarre pyramids that still dominate the surrounding landscape; some well over 30m (100ft) tall.

They are so heavily eroded, they look like natural features; only close up can you see they are made up of millions of adobe mud bricks.

These pyramids are known as "huacas", meaning "sacred site" in the local Indian dialect. Several contain rich collections of murals; others house the tombs of Moche leaders.

As archaeologists have excavated these Moche sites, they have unearthed some of the most fabulous pottery and jewellery ever to emerge from the ancient world.

Archaeologist Dr Walter Alva with an elaborate Moche ear ornamentThe Moche were pioneers of metal working techniques such as gilding and early forms of soldering.

It enabled them to create extraordinarily intricate artefacts; ear studs and necklaces, nose rings and helmets, many heavily inlaid with gold and precious stones.

Archaeologists have likened them to the Greek and Roman civilisations in Europe.

But who were these extraordinary people and what happened to them? For decades the fate of the Moche has been one of the greatest archaeological riddles in South America.

Now, at last, scientists are coming up with answers. It is a classic piece of archaeological detective work.

'Mud burials'

This week's Horizon tells the story of the rise and fall of a pre-Inca civilisation that has left an indelible mark on the culture and people of Peru and the central Andes Mountains.

One of the first important insights into this remarkable culture came in the mid-1990s when Canadian archaeologist Dr Steve Bourget, of the University of Texas in Austin, made a series of important discoveries.

Excavating at one of the major Moche huacas - a site known as the Huaca de la Luna - he came across a series of dismembered skeletons that bore all the signs of human sacrifice.

Archaeologist Luis Jaime Castillo holds a Moche ceramic depicting warriors engaged in ritual combatHe also found that many of the skeletons were so deeply encased in mud the burials had to have taken place in the rain.

Yet in this part of Peru it almost never rains; it could not have been a coincidence. Bourget speculated that the Moche, like many desert dwelling peoples, had used human sacrifice to celebrate or encourage rain.

The theory appeared to explain puzzling and enigmatic images of human sacrifice found on Moche pottery; it provided a new insight into Moche society; yet it did not explain why this apparently sophisticated civilisation had disappeared.

Then American climatologist Dr Lonnie Thompson, of Ohio State University, came up with a startling new find. Using evidence from ice cores drilled in ancient glaciers in the Andes, he found that at around AD 550 to 600, the coastal area where the Moche lived had been hit by a climatic catastrophe.

Internal collapse

For 30 years the coast had been ravaged by rain storms and floods - what is known as a Mega El Niño - followed by at least 30 years of drought. All the human sacrifices in the world would have been powerless to halt such a disaster.

It seemed a plausible explanation for the demise of a civilisation.
But then in the late 1990s, American archaeologist Dr Tom Dillehay revisited some of the more obscure Moche sites and found that they dated from after AD 650.

Thompson's ice cores have opened up the climate history bookMany were as late as AD 750, 100 years after the climatic double-whammy. He also found that at these later settlements, the huacas had been replaced by fortresses.

The Moche had clearly survived the climatic disaster but had they then been hit by an invasion? Dillehay cast around but could find no evidence for this.
He now put together a new theory, one that, in various guises, is now widely accepted by South American experts.

The Moche had struggled through the climatic disaster but the leadership - which at least in part had claimed authority from its ability to determine the weather - had lost authority and Moche villages and/or clan groups had turned on each other in a battle for scarce resources such as food and land.
Moche society had pulled itself apart.

Five Places You Should Visit Now for Authentic Experiences

2009-08-21T18:41:00.000-05:00

09/4/08

Northern Interior, Peru

For many travelers, Peru has become synonymous with Machu Picchu.

However, in the largely undiscovered North, Peru’s rich culture combines with extraordinary opportunities for adventure activities as well as more gentle nature and wildlife experiences. My colleagues at Xola worked in Peru for several weeks this spring and turned up the following off-the-radar itinerary.

From Chiclayo, drive to Chachapoyas, home to the ancient People of the Clouds before the Inca took over their civilization.

The basis for this culture’s name was evident as our car edged up the mountain in dense cloud cover until we were rewarded at our destination with a stunning view of sharp mountain peaks poking through downy, white clouds.

Hike or ride horseback through the area to view the ruins that archaeologists are just starting to map and excavate. The massive fortress at Kuelap is quickly gaining recognition as “the Machu Picchu of Northern Peru,” with over 400 buildings enclosed by a 70-foot stone wall.

The members of the Xola team were the only visitors at the site that day, and marveled at how the Chachapoyas people created this stone compound atop a mountain without the use of the wheel.

The burial ground of Karajia features impressive capsule-like tombs built into the hillside. Stop by the museum in Leymebamba to view over 200 mummies recovered from the remote Lake of the Condors.

When you have had your fill of cultural history, take a kayak down the Utcumbamba River, explore the colonial town of Levanto, or wander the Sunday market at Tingo. Be sure to try the milanesa at La Tushpa restaurant in town!

More Info:
http://www.inkanatura.com/interiorchachapoyaskuelap.asp

EBay Has Unexpected, Chilling Effect On Looting Of Antiquities, Archaelogist Finds

2009-08-20T20:12:00.000-05:00

ScienceDaily (May 9, 2009) — Having worked for 25 years at fragile archaeological sites in Peru, UCLA archaeologist Charles "Chip" Stanish held his breath when the online auction house eBay launched more than a decade ago.

"My greatest fear was that the Internet would democratize antiquities trafficking, which previously had been a wealthy person's vice, and lead to widespread looting," said the UCLA professor of anthropology, who directs the UCLA Cotsen Institute of Archaeology.

Indeed, eBay has drastically altered the transporting and selling of illegal artifacts, Stanish writes in an article in the May/June issue of Archaeology, but not in the way he and other archaeologists had feared.

By improving access to a worldwide market, eBay has inadvertently created a vast market for copies of antiquities, diverting whole villages from looting to producing fake artifacts, Stanish writes. The proliferation of these copies also has added new risks to buying objects billed as artifacts, which in turn has worked to depress the market for these items, further reducing incentives to loot.

"For most of us, the Web has forever distorted the antiquities trafficking market in a positive way," Stanish said.

Looting, which is illegal, is widely recognized as destructive to cultural heritage because it can remove from public ownership tangible links to a people's past. In addition, looting is perceived as the enemy of scholarship because it typically is done without regard to any appropriate methods that allow scientists to date objects and to place them in a larger, more meaningful context.

One of the world's premiere authorities on Andean archaeology and supervisor, at UCLA, of the one of the world's largest collections of working archaeologists, Stanish has been tracking objects billed as antiquities on eBay for more than nine years. His conclusions also are informed by experiences with the U.S. customs service, which occasionally asks him to authenticate objects. In addition, Stanish has visited a number of workshops in Peru and Bolivia that specialize in reproductions of pottery and has interviewed these artisans. While his background is in South American archaeology, he has tracked eBay listings of antiquities from many cultures.

"Chinese, Bulgarian, Egyptian, Peruvian and Mexican workshops are now producing fakes at a frenetic pace," he writes.

When he first started tracking eBay's sales of antiquities, Stanish focused mainly on objects related to his field. At the time, the ratio of real artifacts to fakes was about 50-50, he estimates. About five years later, 95 percent were fakes. Now, he admits, he can't always tell, because the quality of the fakes has improved so much.

He estimates that about 30 percent of "antiquities" currently for sale on eBay are obvious fakes, in so much as creators mix up iconography and choose colors and shapes for visual effect rather than authenticity. Another 5 percent or so are genuine treasures. The rest fall in the ambiguous "I would have to hold it in my hand to be able to make an informed decision" category, he writes. Stanish admits himself to occasionally being duped by fakes encountered in shops in areas where both looted items and fakes are sold.

The advent of eBay has had the biggest impact on the antiquities market by reducing the incentive to unearth precious treasures in the first place, Stanish has found.

"People who used to make a few dollars selling a looted artifact to a middleman in their village can now produce their own 'almost-as-good-as-old' objects and go directly to a person in a nearby town who has an eBay account," he said. "They will receive the same amount or even more than they could have received for actual antiquities."

As a result of the rise of a ready market, many of the primary purveyors have shifted from looting sites to faking antiquities.

In addition to linking craftsmen with a market for cheap fakes, eBay has tended to have a depressing effect on prices for real looted artifacts, further discouraging locals from pillaging precious sites.

"The value of ... illicit digging decreases every time someone buys a 'genuine' Moche pot for $35, plus shipping and handling," he writes. (An authentic antiquity would sell for upwards of $15,000.)

So far, authentication techniques have struggled to keep abreast of increasingly sophisticated fakes, Stanish said. Pottery can still be authenticated reliably, although the process is costly. In addition, forgers tend to only guarantee the authenticity of their pieces as long as no form of "destructive" analysis is used. While just a tiny flake of pottery is required for thermoluminescence dating — the gold standard for pottery — the process is technically considered destructive, Stanish points out, so the test invalidates such warrantees, no matter its conclusion.

Thanks to laser technology and chemical processes for forming antique-appearing patinas, stone and metal, reproductions are "almost impossible" to authenticate using today's technology, Stanish writes. However, the prospect of authentication techniques eventually catching up with today's fakes is also having a chilling effect on the market for antiquities, by dramatically adding to the risk of illicit, high-end trafficking.

"Who wants to spend $50,000 on an object 'guaranteed' to be ancient by today's standards, when someone can come along in five years with a new technology that definitively proves it to be a fake," he asks.

Adapted from materials provided by University of California - Los Angeles.

Rock Art Marks Transformations In Traditional Peruvian Societies

2009-08-20T20:04:00.000-05:00

ScienceDaily (Aug. 6, 2008) — Most rock paintings and rock carvings or petroglyphs were created by ancient and prehistoric societies. Archaeologists have long used them to gain clues to the way of life of such peoples. Certain rock frescos − such as the renowned Lascaux and Chauvet cave paintings or the petroglyphs of Scandinavia and North America − have already yielded substantial information on our ancestors' daily lives.

However, for other regions of the world like Latin America studies are still fragmentary. In Peru, where many sites have already been located, mystery still cloaks the signification and role of these concentrations of cave paintings and petroglyphs. One of these sites, Toro Muerto, in the South of the country, contains over 4000 carved blocks scattered over several dozen hectares.

Discoveries made in different areas of the country over recent years by Peruvian and international researchers are keys to improved understanding of the meaning behind these artistic representations which were realized over a long period from 10 000 BP to the arrival of the first Spanish Conquistadors in the XVIth Century, or even beyond that time, as in the Cuzco area.

Analysis of the distribution and characteristics of these sites brought out a distinction between the art produced in the coastal valleys from that of the Andean Cordillera uplands. The extensive sites with rocks carved in the open air are concentrated mainly on the Pacific facing slopes, whereas the scenes painted in caves or under shelters predominate in the high regions and on the Amazon side.

These preferences as to the supports and techniques used reflect associated ritual practices which are probably rather different. Study of the oldest rock paintings and their dating by indirect methods (carbon 14 dating of remains of in situ burnt charcoal) showed them to be the work of hunter-gatherers who occupied the region between 7000 and 3000 BC The motifs are small and most often painted in red. They depict hunting scenes involving wild camelid species, such as the guanaco, and also human-like silhouettes. The latter are portrayed with animal-like rather than human faces. Such figures are usually armed with sticks, bows or assegais and sometimes carry nets.

The most ancient sites show a predominance of naturalistic representations of dead or wounded animals. However, a second set dated at 4000 to 5000 years BC eulogizes fertility. This time the images are large, drawn with the abdomen enormously swollen, sometimes containing a foetus. This stylistic development, which seems to coincide with the beginnings of animal husbandry in the high upland regions of Peru, appear to symbolize the emergence of pastoralism and the change in man—animal relationships that came along with this practice.

These research studies also brought into relief periods that were quite distinct in terms of stylistic evolution of carved figures. Whereas the most ancient motifs, associated with the rise of the first great Andean civilizations (2500-300 BC) essentially reproduced complex figures bearing high symbolic and spiritual content, depicting mythical, often monster-like, animals and supernatural beings, the later carvings characteristically appear in abundance and testify to a simplification of morphological features. The simplicity and relative abundance of these petroglyphs, which depict animals of the local fauna and also scenes from daily life, suggest a degree of generalization of rock carving practices to further sections of the society.

The largest sites dating from this era, which contain several hundred carved rocks with dozens of motifs, probably played a significant role in societies' cultural and social life, both at local and regional level. Their location, and some of the rituals that took place, may have been linked to areas of production and trade routes of prized commodities such as coca or salt. Other, geographical, factors like the confluence of two rivers or the proximity to communication routes also appear to have significantly influenced the context and purpose of these artistic representations.

A more extensive study of these archaeological sites, still strongly subjected to vandalism and erosion, is paramount. These vestiges testify to the ideological and social changes that occurred over a period of almost 8000 years, and can further understanding of the way of life and beliefs of peoples who were among the New World's first settlers.

Reference: Guffroy, J., New research into rock art in Peru (2000-2004), In :G. Bahn, A. Fossati (eds), Rock art studies. News of the world III, 2008, Oxbow: p 239-247

Adapted from materials provided by Institut de Recherche Pour le Développement, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

Travel blog: Arequipa, Colca Canyon and the Sacred Valley

2009-08-20T20:00:00.001-05:00

Monday, 11 Aug 2008 11:16

Rhian Nicholson has swapped the bright lights of London for a three month journey across South America from the Pacific to the Atlantic coast. Here is her ninth blog entry:

Travel into the old Inca heartland of central Peru and it's not long before a combination of altitude and more mummies, ruins and penas (traditional Andean evenings of food, music and dance) than you can throw a very large stick at start to do strange things to your brain.

We're talking Inca children sacrificed on Mount Ampato in a last ditch effort to appease the gods; crumbling Inca settlements set high in the stunning Sacred Valley; and indigenous people dressed in elaborate costumes twisting and twirling to the sounds of twangy guitars and panpipes.

Arequipa, Peru's second largest city nestles in the shadows of the three massive peaks of El Misti, Chacani and Pichu Pichu.

It is home to one of the most well-known Inca figures - Juanita the Ice Princess whose world tours in her frozen coffin make her the Madonna of the archaeological world (admittedly without the singing and dancing).

After 500 years buried in an icy grave she made her debut in the modern world in 1995, her face and body almost perfectly preserved by the ice and cold.

Centuries older and looking like grotesque china dolls with long matted hair atop their creamy skulls, the mummies of the Chaucilla cemetery are the stuff of children's bedtime fears.

Dressed in rags and sitting huddled in the foetal position (apparently to facilitate their rebirth in the afterlife) in pits-come-open graves and surrounded by bones, skulls and ceramic objects, they would certainly make an impressive army of extras in any horror film worth its salt.

If you're going to sacrifice yourself to the gods then whiling away your days in the colonial oasis that is the Santa Catalina monastery in Arequipa is a fate far better than death.

Its cobbled streets and spacious terracotta courtyards are more reminiscent of a four star holiday resort than a place of quasi-religious devotion.

Outside, the shops lining the photogenic Plaza des Armas certainly put temptation in your path with enough alpaca wool goods and silver jewellery to give your bank manager a coronary.

Well, a girl can never have too many scarves - even if you've only got one neck and have to fork out for another bag to carry them in...

You'd think therefore that leaving the bright lights of the city for the barren landscape of the Colca Canyon would give your debit card a well earned breather. How wrong can you be?! Driving through the earthy wilderness - where herds of llamas, alpacas and vicunas (all big fluffy sheep-like things with long legs - it's not that easy to tell them apart) indulge their suicidal impulses by darting in front of the tourist buses - it's nigh on impossible not to cast your eye over the local handicrafts sold by indigenous women on the roadside.

And who can really resist stripey alpaca socks (essential for those cold Andean nights), woolly hats with ear flaps in a rather fetching llama pattern (useful for those cold Andean winter days) and intricately stitched woven bags (they're just pretty...) Souvenir shopping should come with a health warning.

Rather disturbingly the locals dress up their small children in traditional clothes and bring along their pet alpacas adorned with brightly coloured earrings and woolly coats for the tourists to photograph for the princely sum of one sol (20p).

And it all works well until they lose their cuteness factor and are shipped off to the local restaurants where they end their days on the menu turisticas (the alpacas not the children that is).

If you're going to get fully into the Peruvian spirit then mastering the art of squelching coca leaves around your mouth (you don't chew apparently) is a must.

A staple of Andean life the locals seem to have a wad permanently wedged into one cheek, savouring the juices that ward off hunger, tiredness and crucially altitude sickness - rather helpful when you're at 4,900 metres!

Unfortunately they also taste like an old dirt-encrusted slipper - drinking the coca tea or simply floating in the local hot springs watching the sunset over the mountains is far more pleasant and does the job just as well.

And why go to all this effort? Well, Colca Canyon is the world's second deepest with tiny houses perching on its jagged rust-coloured sides and shadows blackening the valley floor.

Although a few Andean people have braved the rather barren conditions to make it their home, it's far more popular with the condors who swoop, glide and torment the tourists with the faint possibility of getting a decent photo.

This is great if you're a bird watching fan, otherwise standing round for two hours in the freezing cold offers little reward for a 05:30 start.

Meanwhile in Cuzco, the old heart of the Inca empire, you're unlikely to be in bed before 05:30 whether you're psyching yourself up for the Inca trail or celebrating having made it to the end.

Nowadays the city centre is a frenetic hive of tourist activity with the shops lining the picturesque Plaza des Armas and its surrounding cobbled streets flogging souvenirs, Machu Picchu daytrips, any piece of outdoor equipment you may possibly need for the Inca trail and more restaurants and bars than the average person has liver cells.

And with all the free drink offers on every night of the week you can safely assume that you'll lose a few over the course of a couple of nights appreciating all the city has to offer.

But its biggest draw is its proximity to the Sacred Valley - a breathtaking mesh of snow-capped mountains, terracotta slopes and pale yellow farmland cut through by the turquoise Rio Urubamba and packed with Inca ruins.

Perched above Cuzco is Saqsaywaman - known to non-Quechua speaking tourists as Sexy Woman - once a huge fort that staged one of the bloodiest battles between the Spanish and Manco Inca.

When the Inca Patachutec originally built Cuzco he intended it to be in the shape of a puma (one of the Inca's most sacred animals along with snakes and condors) with Saqsaywaman as its head. Unfortunately with the urban sprawl over the centuries the shape of the city now more closely resembles a squashed badger.

Snaking down the road past more market stalls selling yet more handicrafts made of yet more alpaca wool, the town of Pisac leaps into view on the valley floor, its central plaza groaning under the weight of souvenir stalls.

The highlight, however, is not just getting that silver pendant for half the asking price. A steep climb up from the town lies a group of ruins that offer a spectacular panoramic over the valley below (and which more than justifies the rasping sound coming from your lungs).

Back in its heyday it used to be the administrative centre for the surrounding villages with a functioning water system, religious buildings made of polished stone and rougher rustic style buildings for everyday use. These were definitely rooms with a view...

Last stop en route through the Sacred Valley is the market town of Ollantaytambo. Its llama shaped ruins cover the steep valley sides with rocks still left where they were abandoned centuries ago when the arrival of the Spanish disrupted construction of the fort.

Nowadays it's swarming with tourists making the most of creature comforts before starting the Inca trail at KM82.

And indeed you'll never fully appreciate just how good that final hot shower actually was until you are two days into the trek...

Rhian Nicholson

Article in travelbite.co.uk

National Geographic to air documentary about Peru’s Chachapoyas culture

2009-08-20T19:59:00.001-05:00

Art/Culture/History 11 August, 2008 [ 10:44 ]

A new National Geographic documentary will tell the story of the ancient Chachapoyas people, a lost civilization that flourished in the cloud forests of the Amazonas region of present-day Peru.

The documentary, which will be produced by Far West Films, will show the hidden past of the mysterious Chachapoyas culture and its citadel, the Kuelap fortress.

Far West Films is casting local actors to star in the documentary and identifying the needs of equipment, costumes and props.

The documentary will highlight the discovery of eighty skeletal remains by archaeologist Alfredo Narvaez.

The Chachapoyas' territory was located in the northern regions of Peruvian Andes.

The area is rich in archaeology and has one of the largest ancient stone structures in South America.

The Incas conquered their civilization shortly before the arrival of the Spanish in Peru. When the Spanish arrived in Peru in the 16th century, the Chachapoyas were one of the many nations ruled by the Inca Empire.

Their incorporation into the Inca Empire had not been easy, due to their constant resistance to the Inca troops.

News source: ANDINA

PHOTOS: Rare Mummy Found With Strange Artifacts, Tattoo

2009-08-20T19:54:00.000-05:00

July 17, 2008—

Seen with metal plates on his eyes—signs of status—this male mummy found in the ancient Peruvian town of Rontoy was unwrapped in June 2008. He had been disemboweled and placed in layers of cotton and woven textiles to aid his preservation. (Read full story.) The metal and red paint on the thirtysomething's face indicate elite status, and the presence of elites in Rontoy suggests the mysterious Chancay held a tighter grip over the Huaura River valley region than previously believed, experts said. The Chancay rose to power around A.D. 1000 and were conquered by the Inca in 1476, though the Chancay elites likely continued to rule as Inca deputies.

More info

VIDEO: Unusual Mummy Found in Peru

2009-08-20T19:53:00.000-05:00

July 17, 2008—

His eyes covered with metal plates, a thousand-year-old elite mummy has been found surrounded by unfamiliar artifacts—shedding light on a mysterious culture.

Human Sacrifices Found at Ancient Peru Site

2009-08-20T19:52:00.000-05:00

June 4, 2008

This circular plaza holds possible evidence of human sacrifice at the 4,000-year-old Peruvian archaeological site of Bandurria, thought to be one of the oldest urban settlements in the Americas. Human remains have been found at the site before. But only recently have scientists discovered human bones bearing what could be the signs of ritualized violence. (Read full story.) If laboratory analysis confirms that hypothesis, it would upend theories that the so-called Pre-Ceramic period (3000 B.C. to 1800 B.C.) was largely free of ritualized killings. “It is a truly incredible site, regardless of how the recent human remains come to be interpreted,” said Shelia Pozorski, an anthropologist at the University of Texas-Pan American.

This apparently decapitated skeleton, of a man who died in his 20s, was recently found at the Bandurria archaeological site in Peru, scientists announced in May 2008. Alejandro Chu, a Peruvian archaeologist, said the victim's head has not been found. Chu suspects the man was the victim of ritualized violence. A U.S. bone expert is slated to study cut marks on the neck vertebrae. “One needs to prove by cut marks or other physical evidence that a body was dismembered [before death],” said Tulane University anthropologist John Verano, who was not involved in the new discovery.“Even then, theoretically, one could be dealing with sacrifice, execution, murder, or any of a number of human behaviors.”

Two pairs of legs (one of which is shown here) were recently found in Bandurria, Peru, archaeologists announced in May 2008. “The legs probably belonged to a young female in her 20s,” said Alejandro Chu, Bandurria's lead archaeologist. Chu hypothesizes that the women were victims of ritualized killings, and has summoned a U.S. bone expert to study cut marks more closely. If Chu's theory proves correct, the skeletons would be the first documented evidence of ritualistic killing in the Pre-Ceramic era (3000 B.C. to 1800 B.C.)—period thought to be free of such violent practices in the Andes region.Chu said the people belonged to “a pre-ceramic society that had no exact name.”

Canary expedition in search of the white stone llamas

2009-08-20T19:44:00.000-05:00

A team of Canary investigators is currently in remotest Peru to study a startling new archaeological discovery which came to light recently in Choquequirao, an ancient Inca site which is being described in glowing terms as Machu Picchu’s “twin town”.

The find consists of a line of white stone llamas embedded in massive terraced stone walls and which, it is thought, could well form part of the entrance to the sacred valley of the Incas.And make no mistake - the expedition to Choquequirao is no jolly. The three men and two women face a gruelling five days on foot and mule along badly eroded and slippery tracks, in 100% humidity and in full rainy season. But it’s one they have already done just three months ago and now they are hoping to find more of the mysterious llamas.

“After the hardships, mosquitoes and slips along the way what we found was truly worth all the trouble,” said team member Rubén Naveros of La Laguna’s Museum of Science and the Cosmos.So far 33 of the elegant, minimalist llamas have been uncovered, hidden behind and beneath thick vegetation, but the team thinks there could be as many as a hundred, maybe more. The frieze is unique and has caused a considerable ripple of excitement in the archaeological world because nothing remotely like it has been found in Inca architecture before.Another member of the team explained how, on that first visit they had been puzzled by the fact that the mysterious stone complex appeared not to conform to the usual Inca pattern of being constructed in line with the sun. But they had eventually unearthed evidence of aligned white stones set in black earth and buried underneath centuries of dust and undergrowth. It seems this was the place where the Incas ritually sacrificed selected llamas.The far-flung nature of the site can be judged by Gotzon Cañadas’s account of spending 22 hours on a bus from Lima to Cuzco, followed by a 4 hour switchback mountain journey in a cramped minibus to the tiny town of Cachora. “It was like world’s end,” he said. Then came the five day mule ride up the Vilcabamba mountains to Choquequirao, perched at an altitude of 3,300 metres above sea level.At first glance Cachora might well have been far from the madding crowd, but on the return journey and after 65 kilometres in the wilds on the back of a mule it was civilization itself.“As far as we were concerned it was Manhattan,” smiled Cañadas as he prepared to pack his bags and fly off to Peru with the rest of the team, on a quest to bring the white llamas back to life.

Related links :
More about Choquequirao
Choquequirao tours
Choquequirao maps

Peru: Machu Picchu is named one of the New 7 Wonders

2009-08-20T08:56:00.002-05:00

BREAKING NEWS! 7 July, 2007 [ 19:00 ]

(LIP-ir) -- The sacred Incan Sanctuary, located in Qosqo, Peru -¨bellybutton of the world¨- , is now one of the New 7 Wonders of the world. Machu Picchu, pride of every Peruvian, was chosen as one of the New 7 Wonders in a spectacular event held at Estadio da Luz in Lisbon, Portugal today.

Machu Picchu was first chosen as one of the 21 finalists for the New 7 Wonders contest, organized by the New Open World Corporation (NOWC). It was among other internationally recognized architectural wonders such as: Mexico with Chichen Itze, Brazil with Christ the Redeemer, Chile with Easter Island Moais and Spain with Alhambra.

Before the New 7 Wonders were presented it was announced that the list was not given in any special order and that the seven were greatly appreciated. The Great Wall of China was the first to be named followed by the Petra ruins in Jordan and Christ the Redeemer in Brazil.

Machu Picchu was the fourth to be announced followed by Chichén-Itzá in México, the Roman Colosseum in Italy and the Taj Mahal in India.

Although contest organizers do not want to release how many votes each monument received it was stated that over 100 million votes were cast through the internet and over the phone.

The huge event, compared by some to the opening of the Olympics, was hosted by British actor Ben Kingsley, American actress Hilary Swank and one of Asia's sexiest women, Indian supermodel/Bollywood actress, Bipasha Basu. The contest was broadcast to over 170 countries and is estimated to have had a viewing audience of 1.6 million.

Recently Excavated Headless Skeleton Expands Understanding Of Ancient Andean Rituals

2009-08-20T08:56:00.001-05:00

Science Daily — Images of disembodied heads are widespread in the art of Nasca, a culture based on the southern coast of Peru from AD 1 to AD 750. But despite this evidence and large numbers of trophy heads in the region's archaeological record, only eight headless bodies have been recovered with evidence of decapitation, explains Christina A. Conlee (Texas State University). Conlee's analysis of a newly excavated headless body from the site of La Tiza provides important new data on decapitation and its relationship to ancient ideas of death and regeneration.

As Conlee outlines in the June issue of Current Anthropology, the third vertebrae of the La Tiza skeleton has dark cut marks, rounded edges, and no evidence of flaking or breakage, indicating decapitation occurred at or very soon after the time of death. A ceramic jar decorated with an image of a head was placed next to the body. The head has a tree with eyes growing out of it, the branches encircling the vessel.

"Ritual battles often take place just before plowing for potato planting, and trees and unripened fruit figure in these rituals, in which the shedding of blood is necessary to nourish the earth to produce a good harvest," Conlee writes. "The presence of scalp cuts on Nasca trophy heads suggests the letting of blood was an important part of the ritual that resulted in decapitation."

Conlee also points to damage on the jar that indicates it had already been handled and used before being included in the tomb. This was only the third head jar found with a headless skeleton. Most are found at domestic sites, and prior research has concluded that they were probably used to drink from, most likely in connection with fertility rituals. "If the head jar was used to drink from during fertility rituals, then its inclusion in the burial further strengthens the relationship between decapitation and rebirth," Conlee explains.

Notably, there is also no evidence of habitation in the La Tiza region during the Middle Nasca period (AD 450-550), to which the head jar dates. All of the Nasca domestic sites in the area date to the Early Nasca, indicating that the La Tiza skeleton may have been deliberately buried in an abandoned settlement that was associated with the ancestors.

"Human sacrifice and decapitation were part of powerful rituals that would have allayed fears by invoking the ancestors to ensure fertility and the continuation of Nasca society," Conlee writes. "The decapitation of the La Tiza individual appears to have been part of a ritual associated with ensuring agricultural fertility and the continuation of life and rebirth of the community."

Reference: Christina A. Conlee, "Decapitation and Rebirth: A Headless Burial from Nasca, Peru." Current Anthropology 48:3.

Note: This story has been adapted from a news release issued by University of Chicago Press Journals.

Peru: Tomb believed to be older than "Señor de Sipan" found in northern Peru

2009-08-20T08:55:00.001-05:00

Art/Culture/History 3 July, 2007 [ 10:45 ]

(LIP-ir) -- A team of archaeologists, led by Walter Alva, have discovered the wooden tomb of another member of the Mochica culture's elite - older than the "Señor de Sipan" (Lord of Sipan).

These findings belong to the Moche civilization, which ruled the northern coast of Peru from the time of Christ to 800 AD, centuries prior to the Incas.

Alva has stated that he and his team are investigating and within the next few days will know the role of this noble in the Mochica society.

"We have found the tomb of a person that belonged to Mochica nobility. Inside the coffin, discoveries of copper and copper-plated decorations - covered in rust, demonstrate that this person was not a Lord but was among the Mochica elite," Alva explained.The archaeologist, who discovered the "Señor de Sipan" (Lord of Sipan) in 1987, has said that this discovery will provide valuable information about the Mochica culture.

The mummy is estimated to be 1,800 years old, whereas it is estimated that the "Señor de Sipan" was buried 1,700 years ago."The tomb is of a person that appears on Mochica artwork, which shows he participated in important rituals. His headdress, which is V-shaped, identifies him as such," explained Alva.

The archaeologist explained the value of this discovery, "This is the tomb of a person we hadn't found, now we have the Mochica elite complete."40 workers and 6 archaeologists are taking part in this work funded by the Ítalo Peruvian Fund and the government. This years budget is 600 thousand soles.

New Excavations at Sipán

2009-08-20T08:51:00.001-05:00

From K. Kris Hirst,

Friday June 8, 2007
Published by About.com: Archaeology

An international project involving the Museo Tumbas Reales de Sipán, the University of Milan and the Caritas of Peru, has begun an extensive set of excavations at the Moche culture site of Sipán in May 2007 that will go on through the end of the year. The excavations are directed by the Peruvian archaeologist Walter Alva, who first excavated at Sipán in the 1980s.

Located in the lower Lambayeque Valley of the northern coast of Peru, Sipán is one of the most well known archaeological sites in the world, an administrative and religious center of the Moche culture, and best known for the discovery of several burials of elite residents, including el Señor de Sipán (or Lord of Sipán). The tombs included funerary assemblages that matched the clothing and accessories of individuals illustrated in Moche iconography, fine-line ceramic and mural art thought to represent important sacrificial and religious/political rites.

The 2007 investigations will be focused on the pyramids of Sipán, to excavate them more fully and determine the best method of preserving them. One important reason for the excavation was the realization of the effects of el Niño (ENSO). Researchers believe that although the changing climate has worn the appearance of the pyramids to soft-edged hills, the detailed architecture of the adobes may be revealed with additional excavation. If so, they need to be preserved from further damage. Similar work has been effected at the Lima culture site of Huaca Pucllana, which revealed the intricately designed adobe walls that researcher Antonio Aimi (University of Milan) describes as 'an Escher pattern'.

At the same time, the project will construct a sewage and water treatment plant to develop Sipán as a tourist location and improve the plight of the people in the region. The project is being conducted by Caritas (the unidad ejecutora), Museo Tumbas Reales de Sipan (Walter Alva), the Milan University (Antonio Aimi and Emilia Perassi), with sponsorship by the Italy-Peruvian Fund (FIP).

Sipán, more on the site
Moche Civilization
Sipán, Peru Cultural website developed with Walter Alva (Spanish)
Museo Tumbas Reales de Sipán
Caritas of Peru
After 10 years, the new excavations in Sipán, (Spanish and English versions) Antonio Aimi

Information in InkaNatura

Archaeologists study headless body in Peru

2009-08-20T08:49:00.000-05:00

Published by Science Daily
SAN MARCOS, Texas, May 30 (UPI) -- U.S. archaeologists say a recently excavated headless Peruvian skeleton has expanded their understanding of ancient Andean rituals.

Images of disembodied heads are widespread in the art of Nasca, a culture based on the southern coast of Peru from about 1 A.D. to 750 A.D. Despite that evidence and the discovery of many trophy heads in the region, only eight headless bodies have been recovered with evidence of decapitation, said Christina Conlee of Texas State University.

Conlee's analysis of the recently excavated headless body from the site of the ancient community of La Tiza provides important new data on decapitation and its relationship to ancient ideas of death and regeneration.

"Human sacrifice and decapitation were part of powerful rituals that would have allayed fears by invoking the ancestors to ensure fertility and the continuation of Nasca society," Conlee said. "The decapitation of the La Tiza individual appears to have been part of a ritual associated with ensuring agricultural fertility and the continuation of life and rebirth of the community."

She details her findings in the June issue of the journal Current Anthropology.

Copyright 2007 by United Press International. All Rights Reserved.

Almodovar project is in ruins

2007-06-26T15:45:00.003-05:00

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

2007-06-26T15:45:00.001-05:00

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

2007-06-26T15:44:00.004-05:00

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

2007-06-26T15:44:00.003-05:00

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

2007-06-26T15:44:00.001-05:00

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

2007-06-26T15:43:00.001-05:00

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

2007-05-21T11:21:00.001-05:00

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

2007-05-21T11:20:00.000-05:00

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

2007-05-02T17:13:00.001-05:00

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

2007-04-19T12:45:00.001-05:00

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

2007-04-19T12:43:00.003-05:00

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

2007-04-19T12:43:00.001-05:00

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

2007-04-19T12:42:00.001-05:00

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.

More information ...>

Trophy Skull Sheds Light on Ancient Wari Empire

2007-04-19T12:41:00.003-05:00

(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.

More information ...>

Links recomended:

http://www.chnpress.com/news/?section=2&id=6958

Peru Ruins May Hide Mummies

2007-04-19T12:40:00.004-05:00

(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

2007-04-19T12:40:00.003-05:00

(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

2007-04-19T12:40:00.001-05:00

(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

2007-04-19T12:39:00.001-05:00

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

2007-04-19T12:38:00.002-05:00

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."

more information ........>

Caral: A journey back to 2627 B.C.

2007-04-19T12:38:00.001-05:00

(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.

Continue...>

Peru finds ancient burial cave of warrior tribe

2007-04-19T12:36:00.000-05:00

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

2007-04-19T12:35:00.002-05:00

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

2007-04-19T12:35:00.001-05:00

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

2007-04-19T12:34:00.001-05:00

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

2007-04-19T12:33:00.000-05:00

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

2007-04-19T12:30:00.000-05:00

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

2007-04-19T12:27:00.000-05:00

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.

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:

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

2007-04-18T16:52:00.002-05:00

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. (See map)
http://www.inkanatura.com/mapnorth.asp

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.

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/coastchiclayotrujillo_royaltombs_of_sipanmuseum.asp

Tourists and archaeology lovers visit Chiclayo and Trujillo to learn more about the ancient Peruvian cultures. Here you can find some tours in the North
http://www.inkanatura.com/tourprograms.asp

More information about the Tattooed mummy at
http://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

2007-04-18T16:52:00.001-05:00

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