Tomb Discovered In Peru: First Unlooted Wari Tomb, Full Of Glittering Mummified Women, Human Sacrifice
A tomb discovered in Peru is full of mummified women, gold, and ceramics. The tomb in Peru is unlooted, and it may hold the key to the enigmatic Wari empire.
"For the first time in the history of archeology in Peru we have found an imperial tomb that belongs to the Wari empire and culture," lead archeologist Milosz Giersz said.
The Wari empire ruled the Andes centuries before the better-known Incan empire rose. Archeologists who unearthed the mausoleum dug secretly for months for fear of grave robbers.
The 1300-year-old tomb was discovered north of Lima at a coastal pyramid site called El Castillo de Huarmey. It held 63 skeletons, gold, and ceramics.
The discovery may impact commonly held notions of Wari women. The scientists said most of the bodies in the burial chamber were mummified women.
"The women were buried with finely engraved ear pieces made of precious metals that once were believed to be used only by men," archaeologist Patrycja Przadk said.
They were sitting upright, an indicator of royalty; Wari women may have thus held positions of more power than was previously known.
Six skeletons were not wrapped in textiles. These skeletons were "placed on the top of the other burials in very strange positions, so we believe that they were sacrifices," a researcher for the project said.
"They were people thrown into the grave before the grave was sealed," forensic archaeologist Wieslaw Wieckowski said. "They were lying on their bellies, in an extended position and their limbs went in different directions."
The Wari civilization flourished from the 7th to 10th centuries AD. They conquered Peru, then suffered a rapid, mysterious decline. Their capital was in the Andes near what is now Ayacucho. The tomb discovered sheds new light on what is known about the Wari.
"The fact that most of the skeletons were of women and the very rich grave goods, leads us to the interpretation that this was a tomb of the royal elite and that also changes our point of view on the position of the women in the Wari culture," Wieckowski said.
