Archeologists have recently uncovered the roughly 3,000-year-old tomb of what many have called the “Priest of Pacopampa.”
The fascinating find in Peru’s northern highlands might yield some intriguing insights into ancient religious and elite figures of the Andes.
The Pacopampa site has been under investigation since 2005. The site was once a major ceremonial center for the early Andean societies growing parsnips, corn, beans, and squash over 8,000 feet above sea level.
Excavations have yielded discoveries such as the “Lady of Pacopampa,” an elite woman with a deliberately elongated skull, and the “Priests of the Serpent Jaguar,” where one of the oldest gold necklaces to be found in the Americas was uncovered.
Yet the recent tomb unearthed by researchers from Peru’s National University of San Marcos and the National Museum of Ethnology in Japan is believed to be older than these previous finds, which have been dated to between 700 and 600 B.C.
The Priest of Pacopampa is estimated to have been buried in 1200 B.C.
As recounted by Yuji Seki, leader of the excavation project, in an interview with Reuters, the tomb measured over 2 yards in diameter and had been covered with six distinctive layers of ash mixed with black soil.
The presence of two seals — one portraying a jaguar facing west and the other showcasing an anthropomorphic face looking east — is thought to symbolize ritualistic body paint, which was an honor reserved for the noble class.
Also suggestive of the Priest of Pacopampa being a person of import was the presence of sacred offerings, such as ornate ceramic bowls, next to the body.
“Though this person is a man, the associations are very peculiar,” said Seki, referring to the presence of a bone tupu, a large pin typically used to hold Andean women’s cloaks. “I think this was a leader in his time.”
Moreover, the body’s position within the tomb was odd. It lay face-down with its feet crossed.
Archeologists around the world continue to make new discoveries, some of which have even changed the historical record.
For instance, as previously reported in The Dallas Express, a team of scientists from The University of Texas at Austin recently discovered Jurassic vertebrate fossils in the Malone Mountains of West Texas, filling a gap in the local fossil record.
In Ukraine, a country that has seen a great loss of its cultural heritage since the Russian invasion in February 2022, the destruction of a dam in June emptied a reservoir and uncovered artifacts dating as far back as the Bronze Age.