Belonging to a male between the ages of 10 and 15, the body was covered in a shroud and seated upright with arms and legs bent — and the corpse was so well preserved that the boy's dark brown hair was still intact.
AFP News Agency/YouTubeThe 1,000-year-old mummy was discovered while utility workers in Lima, Peru were digging a trench for a gas pipeline.
Utility workers in Peru discovered the remains of a 1,000-year-old pre-Inca mummy in the city of Lima.
The workers found the mummy while digging trenches to expand the city’s natural gas network. The topmost layer of the burial was only 20 inches below the surface.
Jose Aliaga, an archaeologist with the gas company Cálidda, said the mummy was in a seated position and still had its dark brown hair intact when the discovery was first made two weeks ago, according to the Associated Press.
The 1,000-Year-Old Mummy Found By Accident In Lima
AFP News Agency/YouTubeArchaeologists have determined that the remains belong to a boy between the ages of 10 and 15.
Archaeologists determined that the mummy was a boy who died between the ages of 10 and 15. He was found near the trunk of a huarango tree, which was commonly used as a tomb marker by pre-Inca peoples.
“The burial and the objects correspond to a style that developed between 1000 and 1200,” said Jesus Bahamonde, an archaeologist with Cálidda.
Meanwhile, a substantial trove of artifacts was found alongside the mummy. This included the shroud the boy had been wrapped in, as well as calabash gourds. Ceramic plates, bottles, and jugs decorated with geometric designs and human figures including fishermen were also found next to the mummy.
Archaeologists believe the tomb and artifacts come from the pre-Inca Chancay culture, which thrived in the Lima region between approximately the 11th and 15th centuries C.E..
The Wealth Of Mummified Bodies That Have Been Found Across Peru
For thousands of years before the Spanish arrived in Peru circa 1528, the region was home to a number of diverse civilizations that left behind an enormous amount of relics for archaeologists to uncover.
Cálidda, in particular, is responsible for more than 2,200 archaeological finds in Peru since 2004. Meanwhile, the city of Lima alone has more than 400 archaeological sites.
This newly-found pre-Inca mummy is just the newest in a long line of discoveries in the region.
“It is very common to find archaeological remains on the Peruvian coast, including Lima, mainly funerary elements: tombs, burials, and, among these, mummified individuals,” said Pieter Van Dalen, Dean of the College of Archaeologists of Peru.
TwitterArchaeologists believe the 3,000-year-old mummy found in 2023 was from the Manchay culture.
In 2023, for instance, a group of archaeology students found the remains of a 3,000-year-old mummy next to a trash can at a soccer field.
In 2021, archaeologists accidentally discovered a mummy bound in rope that dates back at least 800 years and was found in a seated position with its hands covering its face.
Other discoveries from the Inca period include one of the best-preserved mummies in the world. The find has been dubbed the Mummy Juanita and it shows almost no decay, with both skin and hair intact.
Some of these remains became naturally mummified, particularly those in deserts where the dry heat dehydrates the skin. Other mummies, like Mummy Juanita, show signs of burial practices designed to preserve the body.
This includes the practice of burying the body in a seated position with their hands covering their face – just like the pre-Inca mummy recently found in Lima.
In the end, perhaps what’s most surprising about this mummy is that it went undiscovered until now, given that it was found in a district of the city that has seen a significant increase in urban development recently. And as more development continues in Lima, other historic discoveries are sure to come.
After reading about this newly-unearthed mummy found in Peru, read about more 1,000-year-old mummies discovered in Peru. Then, discover the stories behind history’s most fascinating mummies.
