Mummy discovered in Peruvian city

Telegraph ^ | 27 Aug 2008 | Telegraph

[BGHater]

The mummified remains of a woman who died 500 years before the Incas have emerged from the rubble of an ancient tomb beneath the bustling streets of the Peruvian capital.

A mummy of the Wari prehispanic culture is seen inside a recently discovered tomb in Lima's Huaca Pucllana ceremonial complex

Archaeologists working at the Huaca Pucllana site in the Miraflores neighbourhood of Lima unearthed the mummy on Tuesday along with the remains of another two adults and a child.

The tombs are thought to belong to members of the Wari tribal culture who lived and ruled in Peru from 600-800 AD.

Huaca Pucllana contains the ruins of an ancient plaza, a partially excavated mound of rocks, bricks and dirt. So far about 30 tombs have been unearthed there, but yesterday's discovery was the most exciting.

"We'd discovered other tombs before," said Isabel Flores, the director of the ruins. "But they always had holes, or were damaged. Never had we found a whole tomb like this one - intact."

The mummy sat in a deep hole walled in with crumbling bricks. A pair of large blue eyes glared menacingly from its wooden face mask.

"Her face startled me at first," said Miguel Angel, 19, who was working with the archaeologists at the dig. "I wasn't expecting to find anything like that."

The workers carefully covered the mummy in tissue paper before lifting it onto a wooden board.

Next to the mummy were an array of tools and other objects including ceramics and textiles.

[BGHater]

Mummy ping. Not movie.

[JimRed]

Blue eyes? Can this be proof that the Celts or Vikings landed there so long ago? After all, if you’d never seen blue eyes, would you imagine them?

[fleagle]

The mummified remains of a woman who died 500 years before the Incas?

[Little Pig]

I’m betting they were originally black, but faded over time.

[BGHater]

Alpaca and Illamas can have Blue eyes.

[fieldmarshaldj]

Oh, Bubba, your date is here.

[AndrewB]

Thanks. You saved me the trouble....

[SunkenCiv]

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[hawkboy]

Cue the Indiana Jones Music