Posted on 09/20/2007 11:48:58 AM PDT by blam
Peruvian archaeologists find 40 1,200-year-old mummies
www.chinaview.cn 2007-09-20 10:55:40
LIMA, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- Archaeologists in Peru have found 40 mummies dating from the 1,200-year-old Chachapoyas culture in the Amazon fortress of Kuelap, project leader Alfredo Narvaez told local media on Wednesday.
He said the mummies were discovered alongside Inca pottery, and that they showed signs of being affected by a fire in the archaeological complex, some 1,409 km northeast to the nation's capital.
He said the bodies had been buried under a platform of 24 meters in diameter in the El Tintero structure during a dig of the Kuelap Archaeological Complex Restoration and Conservation project.
El Tintero contained six circular buildings, which appeared to be homes to residents of that time. The mummies, both men and women of all ages, were found both inside and outside the buildings, Narvaez said, noting it seems there was no time to bury them.
The mummies may have been victims of an epidemic or a violent invasion which ended in a massacre and the burning of the stone fortress, Narvaez said.
The Chachapoyas, one of the higher cultures of ancient Peru, had settlements from the Mara and Urubamba River to Abiseo Basin with a capital in the Utcubamba Basin, in the current Amazonas region.
The Chachapoyas stone fortress, which is some 3,000 meters above sea level, was built in the year 800 A.D. It occupies six hectares and has three defense platforms.
Is there a volcano or large lake nearby?..........
They had better look out. Bill Clinton has a thing (confessed) about South American mummies.
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Thanks Blam....they showed signs of being affected by a fire in the archaeological complex... the bodies had been buried under a platform of 24 meters in diameter... El Tintero contained six circular buildings, which appeared to be homes to residents of that time. The mummies, both men and women of all ages, were found both inside and outside the buildings, Narvaez said, noting it seems there was no time to bury them. The mummies may have been victims of an epidemic or a violent invasion which ended in a massacre and the burning of the stone fortress, Narvaez said... The Chachapoyas stone fortress, which is some 3,000 meters above sea level, was built in the year 800 A.D. It occupies six hectares and has three defense platforms.Apparently it was destroyed not long after it was built. The altitude alone accounts IMHO for the mummification. |
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Indeed, little is known about the Chachapoyas, and this -together with their name (Warriors of the Clouds) and their relative advanced civilisation- has lead to legends and mythical stories. One of these suggests that the Chachapoyas were a tall, fairhaired, light-skinned race that researchers believe may have come from Europe”.
Since the Incas and the Spanish conquistadors were the principal sources of information on the Chachapoyas, unbiased first-hand knowledge of the Chachapoyas remains scarce. Writings by the major chroniclers of the time, such as El Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, were based on fragmentary second-hand accounts. The chronicler Pedro Cieza de León, for example, offers some picturesque notes about the Chachapoyas:
“They are the whitest and most handsome of all the people that I have seen in Indies, and their wives were so beautiful that because of their gentleness, many of them deserved to be the Incas’ wives and to also be taken to the Sun Temple.”
many of them deserved to be the Incas' wives and to also be taken to the Sun Temple....assuming of course that wasn't a one-way trip... ;')
The Discovery and Conquest of Peru: Chronicles of the New World Encounter By Pedro de Cieza de León
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