Lima, Aug. 27 (ANDINA).- A group of Peruvian archaeologists working at the Huaca Pucllana pyramid located in Lima, Peru, said Tuesday they found three 1,300-year old mummies from the Wari culture, including a woman with a mask with striking blue eyes.
Three adult funeral bundles and the remains of a sacrificed child were uncovered at the Huaca Pucllana site, along with two well-preserved masks and various textiles.
The archaeological team dubbed one mummy "the lady of the mask" for its mask painted with strikingly large, blue eyes.
"The mask had very firm eyes, they seemed very strong, and it shocked the workers as much as the archaeologists," head archaeologist Isabel Flores said.
"We had discovered other tombs before but they always had holes, or were damaged. Never had we found a whole tomb like this one -- intact," Flores said, standing on the ancient plaza, a huge partially excavated mound of rocks, bricks and dirt.
The newly discovered tomb is typical of Wari burial sites, which are characterized by multiple burials, bodies bundled in fetal position and the burial of a sacrificial child, according to the archaeologist.
"The sacrifices were very common, particularly of children and young girls. They were part of their ritual offerings to the sea and to the land," she said.
Huaca Pucllana was built originally by the Lima culture, which ruled this region now bearing its name from 200 to 700 A.D., when they gave way to the Wari culture.
The Wari culture was the first strongly militaristic and urban culture of Peru. It flourished in Peru's southern highlands from about 500 to 1000, with the empire stretching from Moquegua in the south to Trujillo in the north.
(END) EEP