Remains of ceremonial temple dating back 4,000 years found in Peru
Under a sand dune in northern Peru, a group of archaeologists have found what looks to be the remains of a ceremonial temple dating back 4,000 years, coupled with skeletal human remains that may have served as sacrifices for religious ceremonies.
The remains were found in the Lambayeque region of South America, in the sandy desert district of Zana. This location is a short distance from the Pacific Ocean and around 780 km (484 miles) north of Lima, the country’s capital.
The research was headed by Luis Muro, an archaeologist from Peru’s Pontifical Catholic University. “We are still waiting for radio-carbon dating to confirm the date, but the evidence suggests this religious construction could be part of a religious tradition of temples built on Peru’s northern coast during that period,” Muro said.
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Between the walls and bases of what was formerly a multi-story building, Muro’s team discovered the skeletal remains of three adults, one of whom had offerings next to it and was possibly wrapped in some sort of cloth or linen, he added.
One of the temple walls bears a high-relief drawing of a legendary figure with a human body and a bird’s head, which Muro claims predates the pre-Hispanic Chavin culture, which inhabited the central Peruvian coast for nearly half a millennium beginning around 900 BC.
Peru is home to numerous archaeological sites
Northern Peru is home to the ruins of ceremonial complexes such as the Sacred City of Caral, which is around 5,000 years old, while southern Peru’s Ica region is home to the Nazca lines, which are cryptic geoglyphs carved into the desert more than 1,500 years ago.
Peru’s most famous archeological site is Machu Picchu, an Incan citadel located in the mountains Cusco district and a World Heritage site erected in the mid-15th century.
