The tomb of some 3,000 years old and which would belong to one of the first priestly leaders of ancient Peru is the new finding of archaeologists working at a site in Cajamarca, in the north of the country, the Ministry of Culture reported this Saturday.
“The tomb of the Priest, from 3,000 years before the present, is the name with which the research team baptized a singular person who is approximately 3,000 years old and who corresponds to the first priestly leaders of the temples in the region,” he said. the Ministry of Culture through a statement.
The discovery was made last Thursday within the Pacopampa Archaeological Project – 2023 season, in the province of Chota, in Cajamarca, by the research team led by archaeologists Mg. Yuji Seki and Mg. Daniel Morales, and of which Elio Pérez and Mg. Juan Pablo Villanueva.
“This individual was found in his funerary context, during the investigation work that began on July 25, 2023, in order to understand the context and associations of the “Tomb of the Priest of the Pututus”, found in the 2022 season”, detailed the information released.
The tomb includes a large circular hole one meter deep, presents a funerary context corresponding to the phase called Pacopampa I and the character could have been buried in 1,200 BC.
This funerary context also includes small spherical ceramic bowls as offerings that, together with the body, were covered with six layers of ash mixed with black earth.
The researchers highlighted that they found elements such as seals, which would account for ancient ritual body painting techniques for an elite personage, a bowl with incised decoration turned upside down and another with a hand design.
Along the edges of the tomb, in the upper strata, two other seals were found, one with an anthropomorphic face design facing east and the other with a jaguar design facing west.
The statement added that the director of the Decentralized Directorate of Culture of Cajamarca, Judith Padilla, highlighted that this archaeological project, in addition to investigating evidence and cultural assets, “includes comprehensive work with the Pacopampo and Chotana community, in order to contribute to social, economic and cultural development for communities”.
“This archaeological project is carried out within the framework of the inter-institutional cooperation agreement between the National University of San Marcos and the National Museum of Ethnology of Japan, establishing itself as a field school that has trained more than 70 archeology students from the Dean of America”, concluded the official information.
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