Archaeologists and conservators working at the Moche site of Pañamarca in the Nepeña Valley of north-coastal Peru have discovered a pillared throne room with imagery and evidence that it was used by a high-status female leader – likely a priestess or a queen. In July, the Archaeological Landscapes of Pañamarca research project discovered unprecedented painted architecture at the site. The research project, first founded in 2018, is designed to understand the activities that took place at Pañamarca and its surroundings in the ancient past. The Remarkable Moche Center at Pañamarca Pañamarca is the southernmost monumental center of the Moche culture—a society that made their homes in the coastal valleys of northern Peru between about 350 and 850 AD. Moche archaeology
