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A mummified individual discovered in Chauchilla, Nazca, Peru, with traditional pre-Columbian burial dress and goods. One of the recently discovered mummies was holding a cross, supporting an estimated date in the colonial period. Source: Gerardo Daniel / Adobe Stock

Archaeologists in Peru Unearth Eight Colonial Era Skeletons

Archaeologists in Peru have unearthed the bodily remains of three children and five adults. This adds to bodies discovered at this site in August, the researchers suspect they've identified a rare...
The most mystifying grave found during the July-August dig season at Pampa La Cruz in northern Peru held five children in a circle with their heads almost touching. Source: andina / Huanchaco Archaeological Program

76 Pre-Inca Child Sacrifices Found at Peru’s Pampa La Cruz site

Archaeologists working at the pre-Inca Pampa La Cruz site in Peru have found even more evidence of Chimu child sacrifice practices. The sacrificial remains of 76 more children have been discovered at...
Moche pottery depicting copulation. Museo Larco – Lima, Perú

The Moche Uncensored! 15 Surprising Erotic Ceramics of Peru

The Moche were a mysterious civilization who ruled the northern coast of Peru beginning 2,000 years ago. Little was known about the Moche civilization until the 1980s when archaeologists began...
Two of these South American mummies were victims of violent deaths. Source: Begerock et al. 2022/ Frontiers in Medicine

Death Detectives Discover South American Mummies were Brutally Killed

There are cold cases, and there a really, really, cold cases. The story of two South American mummies falls into the latter category. When researchers analyzed the remains of three pre-Columbian...
The Pacopampa priest’s tomb in its cleaned-up state, which was found by Peruvian and Japanese archaeologists in the Cajamarca of Peru. Source: Peruvian Ministry of Culture

Newly Discovered 1000 BC Pacopampa Priest’s Tomb in Peru Is Turning Heads

A team of archaeologists have discovered what they believe to be the tomb of a religious leader from ancient Peru at the Pacopampa site, a priestly figure, who was baptized as the “priest of the...
At the Castle of Huarmey in Peru, Polish archaeologists, led by Dr. Milosz Giersz, have found the pre-Hispanic grave of an elite Wari craftsman with rare grave goods, including jewels and tools (photographs of these have not be released yet). Advanced metal artifacts like those in this main image have already been found by Giersz’s team at Huarmey.                       Source: Milosz Giersz / Faculty of Archeology, University of Warsaw

Elite Wari Craftsman With Jewels And Rare Tools Found at Peruvian Site

The intact 1,300-year-old tomb of an elite Wari craftsman tomb was recently discovered at Peru’s well-known Huarmey Castle archaeological complex. It’s “unique” because it belonged to a craftsman,...
Representation of a ritual human sacrifice on an altar. Source: archangelworks / Adobe Stock

Blood for the Gods: 10 Cultures that Engaged in Ritual Sacrifice

Since the dawn of humanity, countless civilizations have engaged in ritual sacrifice. Often, these sacrifices involved other humans, and were so common they were considered a normal aspect of life...
Discovery of an elite tomb was made ahead of renovation work in a working-class neighborhood in Lima. Source: Reuters / YouTube

Pre-Colonial Elite Tomb Discovered Under Working-Class Home in Lima

In May 2022 I wrote an Ancient Origins news article about the discovery of “42, syphilis -ridden, colonial Spaniards.” These bodies were unearthed at a 500-year-old hospital in Lima, Peru’s capital...
The Condor pot discovered at Chavín de Huántar 	Source: Antamina

Hidden Tunnels Lead to 3,000-Year-Old Condor Gallery At Chauvín de Huántar

When an archaeologist in Peru squeezed into a tunnel at Chauvín de Huántar in Peru, he discovered a hidden 3,000-year-old chamber. At the center of the ancient space he came across a singular...
A skull of one of the Spanish syphilis patients who died in Lima’s fist hospital that was built just 20 years after Pizarro took over the Inca Empire.		Source: Municipalidad de Lima

Syphilis-ridden Spanish Skeletons Found at Lima’s First Hospital

The remains of 42 syphilis-ridden, colonial Spaniards have been unearthed at a 500-year-old hospital in Lima. But it’s suspected that beneath these poor afflicted souls, might lie the lost mummified...
Left; Portrait of Francisco Pizarro. Right; The tomb of Francisco Pizarro in the Lima Cathedral held the wrong man’s remains for nearly a century, but modern science has corrected the error with Pizarro’s remains, found in two boxes beneath the cathedral in 1977.						Source: Left; Public Domain, Right; RAF-YYC / CC BY-SA 2.0

Finding Francisco Pizzaro: The Strange Story of Pizarro’s Remains

It’s fair to say that Francisco Pizarro was a highly divisive figure. Indeed, even a mention of him today in some parts of the world can incite blood fueled anguish and hatred of the man responsible...
Artist’s rendition of Inca skull surgery. Credit: ThomasH

Horrifying Surgical Kit Found in 1,000-Year-Old Surgeon Tomb in Peru

An ancient surgeon’s tomb has been discovered in Peru containing his grisly surgical weapons, including knives, needles and tumis – sharp metallic tools used for medical or sacrificial purposes...
Montage of article images. 	Source: Various

Ten of the Biggest and Best Geoglyphs from the Ancient World

The most well-known geoglyphs in the world are undoubtedly the Nazca Lines of coastal Peru. Yet, scattered across the globe are thousands of other geoglyphs that are equally as impressive. The earth...
Sign for Machu Picchu in Peru. But, was it really called Huayna Picchu? Source: LUC KOHNEN / Adobe Stock

The World-Renowned Machu Picchu Name Was Unknown to the Incas

Two researchers have proven that the world-renowned Machu Picchu didn’t exist in the Inca world, but Huayna Picchu did. Does this mean that the enormous marketing machine which generates tourism to...
Machu Picchu. Source: David / Adobe Stock

The Mysteries of Machu Picchu and Archaeological Obsession

Hidden away within the Andes, 2,430 meters (7,972 ft) above sea level, the Inca site of Machu Picchu near Cusco in Peru is often referred to as the lost city of the Incas. These days you couldn’t...
Erotic Mochica artifact, a ceramic ceremonial vessel representing the sexual union between a man and a woman.  Source: Museo Larco / Google Art Project

Erotic Peruvian Artifacts Being Used to Prevent Cancer in Men

Health authorities in Peru are teaching men how to inspect their genitals to catch early cancers. To achieve this goal they are using ancient Mochica artifacts depicting sexual scenes. Would you...
Composite of in-article images

Weekly Top Stories: A Quick Catch Up On What You Missed

In last week’s top stories; Coronado Expedition Site found, ancient reindeer hunting techniques revealed, oldest road in Berlin uncovered, ever-burning lamps explored, possibly the best exhibition...
One of the six sacrificed children found in the tomb of an important man in the ancient Andean city of Cajamarquilla. The tiny skeletons were wrapped tightly in cloth.		Source: PHYS

Mummies of Six Sacrificed Children Found at 1,000-Year-Old Peru Site

Archaeologists from Peru recently discovered the remains of six mummified sacrificed children, who were apparently the victims of human sacrifice sometime between the years 1,000 and 1,200 AD. The...
Library in Stone: The Ica Stones of Professor Cabrera – Part I

Library in Stone: The Ica Stones of Professor Cabrera – Part I

In 1961, the Rio Ica burst its banks and flooded parts of the Ocucaje Desert. Was an earthquake responsible for the flood? When the water had retreated, the local farmers inspected the damage. Their...
Weekly Top Stories: A Quick Catch Up On What You May Have Missed

Weekly Top Stories: A Quick Catch Up On What You May Have Missed

In last week’s top stories, we had a shock revelation that the Hopewell culture collapsed after a comet strike, prehistoric cave dwellers were unbelievably clever about where they placed their fires...
Examples of the Chincha spines on sticks.	Source: C. O’Shea / Antiquity Publications Ltd

Ancient Peruvians Reassembled Spines on Sticks to Honor the Dead

The European invasion of the Americas (both North and South) is one of the most destructive colonizing efforts in human history, particularly because of the unimaginable horrors suffered by the...
The elongated skull of a Peruvian warrior who underwent skull surgery 2,000 years ago. Source: Museum of Osteology

2,000-Year-Old Peruvian Underwent Successful Skull Surgery

A skull housed at the Museum of Osteology in Oklahoma is causing quite a stir. The ancient elongated skull, dating back 2,000 years, once belonged to a Peruvian warrior. After being injured during...
Samples of Schinus mole discovered at Quilcapampa in Peru which were used by Wari culture to make an alcoholic drink. Source: Lisa Milosavljevic & Royal Ontario Museum / Antiquity Publications Ltd

Wari Culture Used Alcohol and Drugs to Maintain Political Control

An altered state of consciousness to rule an ancient empire? Not a plot of a television series or a fantasy novella, but a page out of the fascinating book that is human history. A new study...
The vandalized Moche phallic statue of Peru will be repaired, and more provocative statues will be added to the landscape around Trujillo.		Source: Radio Yaravi

Fiberglass Moche Phallic Statue Damaged by Vandals in Peru

Just a few short days after its controversial installation, vandals have damaged a unique Moche phallic statue that was erected outside the city of Trujillo in northern Peru. The 9-foot (2.7-meter)...

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