The vast Ica desert in Peru, a remote and difficult-to-access region, captured the scientific world’s attention in 2023 thanks to a colossal discovery: the first remains of Perucetus colossus, an ancient cetacean that lived approximately 40 million years ago and has been classified as the heaviest animal ever to have existed on Earth. Now, a […]
Peru
Posted inArchaeology
The Throne Room of a Queen from the Moche Culture Associated with the Moon Goddess and Marine Creatures, Found in Peru
In the most recent excavation season of the Pañamarca Archaeological Landscapes project, a remarkable discovery was made: a previously unknown painted architecture at the site. This project, initiated in 2018, aims to uncover the activities that took place in Pañamarca and its surroundings in ancient times. It is a collaborative effort involving archaeologists, art historians, […]
Posted inArchaeology
Temple and Theater 3500 Years Older Than the Inca Civilization Found on Peru’s Coast
Researchers have unearthed a temple and theater on Peru’s coast that are about 3500 years older than the famous Inca civilization. It was incredible, says Muro Ynoñán, a research scientist at the Field Museum in Chicago. This finding sheds light on the early origins of religion in Peru, revealing new insights into how complex belief […]
Posted inArchaeology
Petroglyphs Discovered in Southern Peru Depict Songs Related to Cosmological Rituals
One of the richest sites in rock art in South America is found in Toro Muerto, in southern Peru. A unique aspect of the iconography of the petroglyphs at the site is the figures of dancing people, called “dancers”, which are often associated with geometric motifs, mainly variants of zigzag lines. Building upon intriguing data […]
Posted inArchaeology
Paleontologists Find the Fossil of a Giant Dolphin from 16 Million Years Ago in Amazonia
Discovering the Largest Fossil River Dolphin in the Amazonian Basin In the vast and enigmatic Amazon rainforest, a team of international researchers has made a remarkable discovery that sheds new light on the ancient aquatic life that once thrived in this region. The team, led by the University of Zurich (UZH), has uncovered the largest […]
Posted inArchaeology
A 4,750-year-old Megalithic Stone Plaza in the Andes Discovered by Anthropologists
Two anthropology professors from the University of Wyoming have uncovered one of the oldest circular plazas in the Andean region of South America, showing monumental megalithic architecture. Located at the archaeological site of Callacpuma in the Cajamarca basin of northern Peru, the plaza is constructed with large vertically positioned megalithic stones, a construction method never […]
Posted inArchaeology
Researchers find astronomical alignments in the pre-Inca archaeological site of El Paraíso in Peru
El Paraíso is an important archaeological site from the Late Archaic Period (3500-1800 BCE) located in the Chillón River Valley on the central coast of Peru. Recent investigations have uncovered astronomical alignments in structures associated with this pre-Inca site, suggesting the presence of ancient astronomical and calendrical knowledge. Researchers Robert Benfer, Ivan Šprajc, and others […]
Posted inArchaeology
Inca Quarries and the extensive Network of Roads and Trails that connected them discovered in Peru
The Ministry of Culture of Peru announced that the specialized personnel of the Qhapaq Ñan Project – National Headquarters has identified two Inca quarries, along with their respective workshops, located in the hills of Quilmaná and Cerro Quinta Freno in the province of Cañete, Lima region. From these quarries, blocks would have been supplied for […]
Posted inPre-Columbian Era
Through speed and skill, the Chasquis couriers linked all corners of the Inca Empire
Similar to what happened before with Rome and later with the famous Pony Express in the American Far West, the expansion of the Inca Empire owed much to the development of an extraordinary road network that facilitated communication between different points of Tahuantisuyo and Cuzco with astonishing speed, allowing for prompt action. However, in the […]
Posted inArchaeology
73 Intact Burials with 1000 Year Old Mummies with Masks and “False Heads” Discovered in Peru
Archaeologists in Peru have made an incredible discovery – 73 burial bundles from the Wari Empire period found undisturbed at the archaeological site of Pachacamac, near Lima. The bundles contained mummified remains, some with exquisitely carved wooden masks and ceramic “false heads”. This find provides new insights into the Wari culture and how they prepared […]
