- A strange 3,000-year-old priest’s tomb has been unearthed at Peru’s Pacopampa ruins.
- The body was found face down with its legs crossed next to artifacts made from human bones.
- Excavation researchers told Insider that this pose may have served to protect against “powerful abilities.”
A strange tomb has been unearthed in Peru.
Inside the burial chamber, the 3,000-year-old remains of an elite spiritual leader known as the “Prince of Pakopampa” were found lying face down with his legs crossed. More research is needed to determine exactly what significance he had in ancient civilizations, but the rationale behind his burial location is that his power in the afterlife was The project’s lead researcher told Insider that it may have been a precautionary measure to protect the body.
But the excavation site remains a deeper mystery, with the remains of a priest marked with relics thought to be made from human bones and symbols that may have belonged to a cult that worshiped predatory animals. It was discovered along with the original stamp.
“Prone burials are often found in the Andes,” Yuji Seki, leader of the Pacopampa Archeology Project, told Insider. Seki, who is also a professor emeritus at the National Museum of Ethnology and focuses on ancient power formations in the South American mountains, said the reason for the body’s position “may have been fear of someone with powerful abilities; We don’t know for sure.” . ”
Other archaeological excavations have shown that the practice of burying bodies face down, as in the case of a medieval girl discovered in England, is a superstitious practice to prevent the recently deceased from coming back from the dead. Researchers believe that it was a burial ritual.
Seki believes that similar stone carvings from the period (3000 BC to 50 BC) depict religious figures in crossed-legged poses, and that crossing legs has a religious meaning. He added that it was thought to be an intentional gesture.
The skeleton of Priest Pacopampa stands alone in a huge cemetery as part of a large-scale archaeological project carried out since 2005 under an academic agreement between Japan’s National Museum of Ethnology and Peru’s National University of San Marcos. was discovered in Differences appeared in the ancient Andean civilizations.
“Judging from the extravagant use of space, with only one burial in a large earthen pit, we can infer that he was an important person,” Seki told Insider. “This tomb has an unusual feature in that the deceased was placed in the eastern half of the hole, and the grave goods were placed in the western half.After the deceased was placed in the pit, the tomb was filled with soil containing a large amount of charred matter and ashes. , Archaeological Relics.”
Among the artifacts buried with Prince Pacopampa and found deliberately placed upside down to match his body, are bowls decorated with carved lines and decorative stamps. It is thought that these were dipped in paint and used to decorate the bodies of people of elite social status through ritual symbols.
“This stamp represents a palm,” Seki said, adding that two other stamps were also found, one showing a cat’s face and the other showing a frontal human face with closed eyes.
He added: “This is the first example of a tomb with three stamps in the Andes region. It may have been a tool to symbolize the person’s authority, as there is no evidence that it was ever used. Also, like many elites, in their tombs their faces were primarily covered with cinnabar red pigment.”
In addition to stamps and pottery shards, artifacts believed to be made from human bones were also found near the bodies.
Seki was initially thought to be a tupu, a traditional Andean pin used to decorate women’s blankets, but later two small bowls with gently curved sides were unearthed nearby, and their skeletal remains were discovered. He said it may have been used to scoop or stir the contents. inside those containers.
Professor Seki said, “Due to the length of the bones, there is a possibility that human bones were used, and we are currently conducting analysis.” “Judging from the size of the grave, the presence of grave goods and cinnabar, etc., it is highly likely that he was a religious leader.”
Although it is too early to draw final conclusions about burial rituals at the time, graves in the area previously discovered by the Paco Pampa Archaeological Project team show evidence of “ritual violence,” Seki said. Told.
From 2005 to 2015, Seki’s team unearthed the remains of 104 people, including 66 adults and 38 children. These date from periods known as the Middle (1200-800 BC) and Late (800-500 BC) Formative periods.
Insider previously reported that seven of the adult skeletons recovered from the same ritual site had signs of trauma to the head, limbs, and elbows. Most of the wounds found were to the skull and showed signs of healing, suggesting that even though the wounds sustained were severe, the person who was hit survived.
These types of injuries “suggest that they are caused by deliberate and repeated blows, rather than accidents,” Seki and colleagues wrote in their paper. research paper The survey results were announced in 2017.
“The severe but healed trauma was localized to the skull and appears to be the result of severe force applied under controlled conditions, with no defensive wounds found in some cases of paco pampa,” the study said. It was judged.
The leaders of ancient civilizations had an affinity for “predatory animal worship.” According to Seki’s research team, they frequently depicted humans with ferocious animal features as expressions of the forces of nature within them.
Seki and the Paco Pampa Archeology Project will continue to excavate more information, but so far, “these anthropomorphic creatures emphasize the visible roles of high-ranking members of the cult, and are a symbol of life, death, and the elite.” It served to legitimize the monopoly of the and socio-economic control through ritual. ”
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