27 may 2012
A team of archaeologists from the Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB)
has discovered a spectacular tomb containing more than eighty
individuals of different ages. This discovery -- provisionally dated to
around 1000 years ago -- was made at the site of Pachacamac, which is
currently under review for UNESCO World Heritage status.
Pachacamac, situated on the Pacific coast about thirty kilometres
from Lima, is one of the largest Prehispanic sites in South America.
Professor Peter Eeckhout -- under the auspices of the ULB -- has been
carrying out fieldwork at the site for the past 20 years. The 2012
season resulted in some particularly remarkable discoveries.
The Ychsma Project team undertook to record and excavate a series of
Inca storage facilities (15th-16th c. AD), as well as a more ancient
cemetery which had been detected during exploratory work in 2004.
It was here -- directly in front of the Temple of Pachacamac -- that
the most important discovery was made. A scatter of later period burials
was found to conceal an enormous burial chamber 20 metres long ;
miraculously, it had survived the pillaging of the colonial period --
which was particularly intensive on this site -- and was completely
intact.
The tomb is oval in outline, excavated into the earth and covered
with a roof of reeds supported by carved and shaped tree trunks. A dozen
newborn babies and infants were distributed around the perimeter, their
heads oriented towards the tomb. The main chamber was seperated into
two sections, separated by a wall of mud bricks which served as a base
for yet more burials.
Inside the chambers, the archaeologists uncovered the remains of more
than 70 skeletons and mummies (many of which still retained their
wrappings), all in the characteristic fœtal position. The burials
represented both sexes and all ages, and were often accompanied by
offrenda including ceramic vessels, animals (dogs, guinea pigs), copper
and gold alloy artefacts, masks (or 'false heads') in painted wood,
calabashes, etc. These items are currently under restoration and
analysis. Babies and very young infants were particularly common.
The team's group of physical anthropologists, under the direction of
Dr Lawrence Owens (University of London), have posited the possibility
of a genetic relationship between many of the individuals, on the basis
of certain morphological traits recorded in the skeletons. Certain of
the individuals suffered mortal injuries, physical trauma or serious
illness.
Previous work by the Ychsma Project has revealed the extensive
presence of disease in the Pachacamac skeletal population, leading to
the suggestion that the affected individuals had, as testified by Inca
sources, travelled to the site in search of a cure: a form of
Prehispanic Lourdes.
Professor Eeckhout and his colleagues are currently carrying out
laboratory analyses aimed at answering numerous questions that have
arisen concerning this discovery, and how to contextualise it within the
wider context of the site and the period(s) in question. Were the
infants sacrificed ? Were the bodies all interred at the same time as a
form of communal burial, or was the chamber reused over longer periods
of time like some sort of crypt? Did the individuals come from
Pachacamac or further afield? Did they belong to the same family or
larger kinship group ? What was their cause of death…?
The artefacts found in the tomb date it stylistically to around 1000 AD, although this is yet to be confirmed radiometrically.
