Archaeologists discover 3000-year-old tomb honouring religious leader in northern Peru

8:44 pm on 28 August 2023

Handout picture released by the Peruvian Ministry of Culture on August 27, 2023 showing archaeologists holding pottery pieces found at a 3,000-year-old priest's tomb, found by a group of Japanese and Peruvian archaeologists under a ceremonial site at the Pacopampa archeological site, in Cajamarca, northeast of Peru. (Photo by Handout / Peruvian Ministry of Culture / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / PERUVIAN MINISTRY OF CULTURE " - NO MARKETING - NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS

Archaeologists holding pottery pieces found at a 3000-year-old priest's tomb. Photo: AFP / Handout / Peruvian Ministry of Culture

Archaeologists in northern Peru have unearthed a 3000-year-old tomb which they believe might have honoured an elite religious leader in the Andean country some three millennia ago.

Dubbed the "Priest of Pacopampa," referring to the highland archaeological zone where the tomb was found, the priest would have been buried around 1200 BC, Peru's Culture Ministry said in a statement.

The body was buried under six layers of ash mixed with black earth, with decorated ceramic bowls and seals indicating ancient ritual body paint used for people of elite standing.

Handout picture released by the Peruvian Ministry of Culture on August 27, 2023 showing an archaeologist holding a pottery piece found at a 3,000-year-old priest's tomb, found by a group of Japanese and Peruvian archaeologists under a ceremonial site at the Pacopampa archeological site, in Cajamarca, northeast of Peru. (Photo by Handout / Peruvian Ministry of Culture / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / PERUVIAN MINISTRY OF CULTURE " - NO MARKETING - NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS

One of the bowls found at the site. Photo: AFP / Handout / Peruvian Ministry of Culture

Two seals were also found along the upper edges of the tomb, one with an anthropomorphic face looking east and another with a jaguar design facing west.

Project leader Yuji Seki said the large size of the tomb, nearly two metres in diameter and one metre deep, was "very peculiar", as was the position of the body, lying face down with one half of the body extended and feet crossed.

Handout picture released by the Peruvian Ministry of Culture on August, showing a pottery piece from a 3,000-year-old priest's tomb, found by a group of Japanese and Peruvian archaeologists under a ceremonial site at the Pacopampa archeological site, in Cajamarca, northeast of Peru. (Photo by Handout / Peruvian Ministry of Culture / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / PERUVIAN MINISTRY OF CULTURE " - NO MARKETING - NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS

Photo: AFP / Handout / Peruvian Ministry of Culture

The body was also found with a bone shaped into a tupu, a large pin used by Andean Amerindians to hold cloaks and ponchos, which would have been used to hold a woman's blanket, he added.

"Though this person is a man, the associations are very peculiar," Seki said.

"I think this was a leader in his time."

Handout picture released by the Peruvian Ministry of Culture on August 27, 2023 showing an archaeologist next to the remains of a 3,000-year-old priest's tomb, found by a group of Japanese and Peruvian archaeologists under a ceremonial site at the Pacopampa archeological site, in Cajamarca, northeast of Peru. (Photo by Handout / Peruvian Ministry of Culture / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / PERUVIAN MINISTRY OF CULTURE " - NO MARKETING - NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS

Archaeologists from Peru and Japan were involved in the excavation. Photo: AFP / Handout / Peruvian Ministry of Culture

The rock layers indicate the priest was some five centuries older than the tombs of the "Lady of Pacopampa" and the "Priests of the Serpent Jaguar of Pacopampa," discovered in 2009 and 2015 respectively, the ministry said.

The Pacopampa Archaeological Project, which has been working in the area since 2005, last year discovered the "Priest of the Pututos," however, this tomb is believed to be older.

- This story was first published by Reuters.