It appeared in the least thought place. Archaeologists in Lima (Peru) made the astonishing discovery. It was under thousands of kilos of waste: it was a 3,000-year-old mummy. The pre-Hispanic mummy under a garbage dump.
It is believed to be the mummy of a person who was probably sacrificed. The specimen was discovered in mid-June by archaeologists and students from the University of San Marcos. It had been detected thanks to its hair and skull exposed to the air.
8 tons of waste
The skeleton with long black hair lay face up. Its lower limbs were reportedly bound with a woven rope. A set of stones surrounded the mummy, buried one meter below the surface of the summit.
However, before examining the ancient mummy, some eight tons of debris had to be removed from the site. This is reported by Business Insider. Subsequently, other buried objects were also discovered at the site. Corn, coca leaves and seeds were found.
Archaeologist Miguel Aguilar commented that the mummy probably belonged to the Manchay culture. It was a group of ancient settlers who lived in the surroundings of present-day Lima between 1500 B.C. and 1000 B.C. What suggests that this theory is true? The position of the mummy and its location in the U-shaped temple. According to scientists, the Manchay built U-shaped temples oriented towards the rising sun.
Sacrifice
“The person had been abandoned or offered as a sacrifice. It would have been done during the last phase of construction of this temple,” Aguilar specified.
The pre-Hispanic mummy under a garbage can is a clear sacrificial ritual. The rope that ties the lower ends of the mummy is evidence of this. There is already an example of a mummy found previously in another area of Lima, named The Lord of Cajamarquilla. The body was also tied with vegetable cords.
