Posted on 05/02/2007 5:38:33 PM PDT by blam
Rare skeleton, jewels found in Bolivia pyramid
Wed May 2, 2007 9:46PM BST
TIWANAKU, Bolivia (Reuters) - Archeologists have uncovered the 1,300-year-old skeleton of a ruler or priest of the ancient Tiwanaku civilization together with precious jewels inside a much-looted pyramid in western Bolivia.
The bones are "in very good condition" and belong to either "a ruler or a priest," Roger Angel Cossio, the Bolivian archeologist who made the discovery, told Reuters on Wednesday.
He said the tomb -- containing a diadem and fist-sized carved pendant of solid gold -- survived centuries of looting by Spanish invaders and unscrupulous raiders who depleted Tiwanaku of many precious treasures.
"After so much looting... miraculously this has stayed to tell us the history," Cossio said.
"It's a complete body... next to it are jewels, offerings and a llama," he said.
The llama may have been a status symbol or a source of food for the journey to the afterlife, archeologists
said.
The corpse was found in a niche carved inside the 15-yard-high (15-metre-high) Akapana pyramid, which was built around 1200 BC and is described by experts as one of the biggest pre-Columbian constructions in South America.
At its peak, the city of Tiwanaku stretched over 1,480 acres and had a population of over 100,000, according to chief archeologist Javier Escalante, who presented the findings on Wednesday at a news conference near the pyramid. The Tiwanaku civilization spread throughout southwestern Bolivia and parts of neighboring Peru, Argentina and Chile from around 1500 BC to AD 1200.
Although experts still have to do carbon dating to determine the age of the remains, archeologists estimate they were buried some 1,300 years ago, during the decline of the Tiwanaku empire.
Cossio believes the remains belong to someone of importance in the Tiwanaku society.
"Not just anyone would be buried under the Akapana pyramid" he said.
In the 1900s workers used the base of the pyramid as a quarry from which they extracted stones to build a rail line connecting the neighboring town of Guaqui with La Paz.
Interesting.
What big surprises do you anticipate?
Bookmarked.
The lines on the face of the figure indicate ceremonial disfiguring. It would have been intereting to see the ear plugs. It sure is in great condition.
Something along the line of the article below.
Kuelap - The Machu Picchu Of Northern Peru (Chachapoyas - White, blonde haired people)
"The oldest human remains found in the Americas were recently "discovered" in the storeroom of Mexico's National Museum of Anthropology. Found in central Mexico in 1959, the five skulls were radiocarbon dated by a team of researchers from the United Kingdom and Mexico and found to be 13,000 years old. They pre-date the Clovis culture by a couple thousand years, adding to the growing evidence against the Clovis-first model for the first peopling of the Americas."
"Of additional significance is the shape of the skulls, which are described as long and narrow, very unlike those of modern Native Americans."
Actually, 15 yards is 13.7 meters. Or, 15 meters is 16.4 yards. Which is it? I doubt a Bolivian archeologist would use yards in his description.
Then again, it is Reuters reporting. Anything from them within 10 per cent of the truth should be celebrated.
Obviously signs of an ancient and highly intelligent form of life.
And look at the size of that nose. Take a lot of marching powder to fill that bad-boy up.
But of course!
Why did you post a sculpture of Prince Charles?
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Why the long face?
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