Archaeologists have found a pre-Columbian tomb containing well-preserved human remains, ceramics and jewelry near Peru’s northern coast that could shed new light on the ancient Moche Indian culture.
The site in Ucupe - about 416 miles from Lima - may be related to other important Moche ruins in the area, including the famed Lords of Sipan tomb dating to 200 AD that was excavated in the late 1980s, dig co-director Bruno Alva said.
Mr Alva said the team recovered one body wearing gold-coloured copper funeral masks and wrapped in reed in the excavation that began in June.
The researchers also found remains of a young man nearby and animals thought to be alpacas or llamas.
Among the objects uncovered were gold-coloured copper crowns, earrings, nose rings, necklaces of silver, seashells and ceramics.
The remains most likely belonged to nobility, said Walter Alva, the renowned Peruvian archaeologist who discovered the Sipan site.
The Moche were a pre-Columbian civilisation known for ceramics, architecture and irrigation systems that thrived from about 100 AD to 800 AD in northern Peru.
PA