4,000-Year-Old Ceremonial Temple Within a Sand Dune in Peru Stuns Archaeologists
Archaeologists recently made a remarkable discovery of a temple dating back 4,000 years in northwestern Peru. The ceremonial temple had been covered in sand and was unearthed at the request of local authorities, Popular Mechanics reported.
At first, the only structure visible to the experts was walls, but slowly they delved deep and encountered a mix of structures that indicated the presence of a temple, Popular Mechanics reported. The team also found the skeletal remains of three adults tucked between the temple walls.
"We may be facing a 5,000-year-old religious site that constitutes an architectural space defined by walls built by rammed earth," Luis Armando Muro Ynoñán, director of the Cultural Landscapes Archaeological Project of Ucupe, shared, Popular Mechanics reported.
The temple ruins seem to be pre-dating Machu Picchu, the Inca settlement by almost 3,500 years, as well as, pre-Inca cultures such as the Moche and Nazca, Smithsonian Magazine reported. Samples for radiocarbon dating have been sent to the lab, to confirm the site's exact age.
"We don’t know what these people called themselves, or how other people referred to them," Muro Ynoñan added. "All we know about them comes from what they created: their houses, temples, and funerary goods."
In June, researchers excavated the 33- by 33-foot plot of land located near Zaña, a town in coastal Peru, Smithsonian Magazine reported. After digging six feet, the experts found evidence of ancient walls made of mud and clay. The team also found remains of a structure that seemed like a small stage. The area "could have been used to perform ritual performances in front of a selected audience," as per Muro Ynoñan.
The temple also seemed to have murals painted on the walls, Smithsonian Magazine reported. Muro Ynoñán collected the pigment samples and sent them for testing in a lab to find out their origin and the groups with which the site's builders were trading, during that time.