In a significant archaeological discovery in Peru, four well-preserved mummies of children, believed to be over 1,000 years old, have been unearthed from what was once a sacred ceremonial site.
The site is now situated in one of the oldest neighborhoods in modern-day Lima.
Moreover, researchers believe the children, discovered on Monday alongside the remains of an adult, come from the Ychsma culture that developed on Peru's central coast before the Inca Empire rose to span swathes of the Andean region.
Some remains were discovered at the base of a staircase situated on a modest hill, thought to have concealed a temple in the past. Luis Takuda, an archaeologist from the Rimac district in Lima, suggested that the temple probably dates back 3,500 years.
Advertisement
"This whole area is a very important ceremonial chamber," Luis said. "The people who lived here during the Ychsma period still considered it a sacred space and therefore buried their dead here."
He also revealed that the mummies' skulls still had hair on them, and the remains were found alongside ceramics.
Boasting a population of approximately 10 million, the capital of Peru harbors around 400 archaeological ruins.
The most expansive archaeological sites in Peru lie beyond Lima, situated in places like Cusco, once the Inca Empire's capital that succumbed to Spanish conquistadores in the 16th century.
