Five mummies about 1,000 years old have been found in a pre-Hispanic pyramid located in the heart of Lima where there is a pre-Inca site occupied by various cultures throughout history, the Minister of Culture, Leslie Urteaga, reported this Monday.
The archaeologists found the mummies in four funerary contexts of children and one of adults and they belong, according to the first investigations, to the Ichma or Ychma culture, which occupied the space of present-day Lima.
The Ichma culture formed around 1100 AD, after the disintegration of the Wari empire, and lasted until 1469, when the Inca Empire conquered them.
In this same site, called Huaca Florida, a staircase from the Manchay period has also been discovered, which may be about 3,500 years old.
The minister explained next to the funerary remains that this place shows the overlap of cultures and that it is a source of pride for the residents of Rímac, a district that belongs to the historic center of the capital and that belongs to the UNESCO world heritage.
“I believe that our ancestors are telling us ‘here we are, we want to continue putting ourselves in value, that they continue to know us so that our country continues to move forward,'” said Urteaga.
He explained that they will soon remove the five funerary remains to move on to the next stage of the investigation in the laboratory, where through analysis it will be possible to know the exact dates of the mummies, as well as the materials used and details about the deaths of these people.
The remains were found along with cotton fabrics, ceramics, and corn, among other objects.
The minister recognized the work of the mayor of the Lima district of Rímac, Néstor de la Rosa, for his commitment to culture and heritage, and noted that they hope to put this district in “the eye of research, the preservation and dissemination of the heritage”, so that it can be visited by national and international tourists.
In that sense, he expressed the desire to value this site and called on the neighbors and Peruvians in general to be proud of the country in which they live, full of archaeological vestiges.
“We are all walking under another Peru, on top of other people who lived here and had the privilege of living in this valley,” he indicated.
Lima has dozens of huacas distributed throughout its territory, some valued and others subject to the rigor of looters and urban speculators.
These huacas are pre-Inca pyramid-shaped adobe constructions with religious and administrative functions that have been preserved thanks to the scarce rains in the Peruvian capital and the conditions of the terrain. EFE