Spectacular Tomb Containing More Than 80 Individuals Discovered in Peru

ScienceDaily ^ | May 22, 2012 | AlphaGalileo

[SunkenCiv]

A team of archaeologists from the Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB) has discovered a spectacular tomb containing more than eighty individuals of different ages. This discovery -- provisionally dated to around 1000 years ago -- was made at the site of Pachacamac, which is currently under review for UNESCO World Heritage status.

Pachacamac, situated on the Pacific coast about thirty kilometres from Lima, is one of the largest Prehispanic sites in South America... It was here -- directly in front of the Temple of Pachacamac -- that the most important discovery was made. A scatter of later period burials was found to conceal an enormous burial chamber 20 metres long ; miraculously, it had survived the pillaging of the colonial period -- which was particularly intensive on this site -- and was completely intact.

The tomb is oval in outline, excavated into the earth and covered with a roof of reeds supported by carved and shaped tree trunks. A dozen newborn babies and infants were distributed around the perimeter, their heads oriented towards the tomb. The main chamber was seperated into two sections, separated by a wall of mud bricks which served as a base for yet more burials.

Inside the chambers, the archaeologists uncovered the remains of more than 70 skeletons and mummies (many of which still retained their wrappings), all in the characteristic fetal position. The burials represented both sexes and all ages, and were often accompanied by offrenda including ceramic vessels, animals (dogs, guinea pigs), copper and gold alloy artefacts, masks (or 'false heads') in painted wood, calabashes, etc. These items are currently under restoration and analysis. Babies and very young infants were particularly common.

[SunkenCiv]

Source: Libre de Bruxelles, Universit, via AlphaGalileo

Excavating the tomb. (Credit: Image courtesy of Libre de Bruxelles, Universit)

[SunkenCiv]

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[Adder]

Soooo when does a tomb description change from “horrible” and “macabre” to “spectacular”?

[SunkenCiv]

Why do you ask?

[Adder]

Well, I was being semi sarcastic...But it is interesting: if we found something like this from say the Civil War, the description might be along the lines of grisly or the like. I suspect it has more to do with some level of identification with the interred....the further away from the dead you are, the more detached you can be and refer to the discovery as “spectacular”.

Just a random thought that struck me.

[blam]

"Babies and very young infants were particularly common."

Notice how the Gods mostly prefer sacrificial victims that are the least capable of resisting.

[blueunicorn6]

“80 Individuals”? - glad there weren’t any cojoined twins....”group”.....”group”.....”people”?.....Well, if I was buried in a tomb in Peru with 79 other slobs, I guess I’d want to be referred to as an individual.....wouldn’t want to be lumped in with everyone else in the grave....oh....what if it was my relatives?.....I’d move to a different tomb....”TWO TOMBS FOUND IN PERU - ONE WITH 79 SLOBS AND ONE WITH ONE REALLY NICE GUY......

[csvset]

Some more info about the Ychsma project from the school's website.

The Ychsma Project

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks csvset.