Emily Chan
For over 50 years, archaeologists have been conducting excavations at a site in Peru’s Viru Valley. Recently, the remains of four people were unearthed. They had been buried about 3,800 years ago, long before the Incas were in the region.
The burials of the two children, a teenager and an adult, were found in what was likely the ruins of a temple at the archaeological site of Queneto in northern Peru. The temple was built with clay plaster and cobblestone walls that had curved corners.
“These environments, characterized by curved corners, show unique architecture from the Early Formative period,” said Castillo Lujan, professor of the Professional School of Archaeology at the National University of Trujillo.
“Furthermore, fragments of early ceramics found at the site were similar to those observed in other important settlements such as Gramalote, in the Moche Valley, and Huaca Negra, near the coast in the Viru Valley.”
The site dates back to 1800 to 900 B.C., during the Early Formative period. It predates the Inca Empire, which thrived in the Andean region of South America.
The empire stood from about 1200 to the 1530s. The people living in the region helped start the construction of large buildings, including some of the earliest pyramids, in Peru.
All four individuals were lying on their sides and appeared to face a mountain. Grave goods, such as snail shells and stone pendants, were buried alongside them.
Pottery fragments were also detected at the site. It is possible that the temple was used by a cult associated with water.
To the people living around the Andes, mountains had symbolic significance, as evidenced by how the burials were facing the mountains.
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