LIMA, June 28 – Archaeologists have uncovered a 1,200-year-old “temple of the dead” burial chamber filled with precious gold and silver artefacts and the remains of 63 individuals in Peru.
The discovery is the first unlooted tomb of the ancient South American Wari civilisation from 700 to 1,000 A.D., FoxNews.com reported Thursday.
“We are talking about the first unearthed royal imperial tomb,” University of Warsaw archeologist Milosz Giersz told National Geographic.
Gold and silver jewelry, bronze axes and gold tools occupied the impressive tomb which consisted of an ancient ceremonial room with a stone throne and a mysterious chamber sealed with 30 tonnes of stone fill.
Intrigued, Giersz and his team continued to dig and found a large carved wooden mace.
“It was a tomb marker. And we knew then that we had the main mausoleum,” Giersz said.
As the archaeologists searched deeper, they found 60 human bodies buried in a seated position which were possibly victims of human sacrifice.
Nearby, three bodies of Wari queens were also found along with inlaid gold and silver-ear ornaments, silver bowls, a rare alabaster drinking cup, cocoa leaf containers and brightly painted ceramics.
Gierzs and his team were stunned at their discovery, telling National Geographic they had never seen anything like it.
The Wari’s vast empire was built in the 8th and 9th centuries A.D., andspanned across most of Peru. Huari, their Andean capital was once one of the
world’s greatest cities, populated with 40,000 people compared to Paris’ mere 25,000 at the time.
Wari artefacts have long been subject to looters who seek out their rich imperial palaces and shrines. Gierzs and his project co-director Roberto Pimentel Nita managed to keep their dig a secret for many months in order to protect the previously untouched burial chamber.
The temple of the dead project scientific advisor Krzysztof Makowski Hanula told Nationahl Geographic the temple of the dead “is like a pantheon, like a mausoleum of all the Wari nobility in the region.”
Meanwhile, the Royal Tombs of Sipan Museum in Peru’s northern Lambayeque region is expected to attract 3,000 tourists over the long holiday weekend from June 27 to 30, museum director Walter Alva said Thursday.
The highlight of the museum are the gold and silver treasures of the Lord of Sipan tomb, one of the most important archaeological discoveries of twentieth-century America.
According to archaeologist Walter Alva, who unearthed the world-famous tomb in 1987, people visiting the museum will also find other thirteen tombs of the ancient Moche culture.
“Our institution has asserted itself on an international level as one of the most visited museums in Peru,” said Alva, who recalled that 80 percent of visitors are Peruvians and 20 per cent foreigners.
The noted archaeologist also mentioned that about 2,300 people visited the museum during the long holiday weekend of St. Peter and St. Paul’s Day a year ago.
“This year we expect to exceed that figure and reach some 3,000 visitors. We also want to attract over 184,000 visitors by the end of the year,” he added.
-BERNAMA
