Peru, 5,000-year-old ceremonial temple discovered

Major archaeological discovery in Peru, where the Ministry of Culture, through the Decentralized Directorate of Culture in Lambayeque (DDC), has given news of the discovery of the remains of a religious monumental architecture from about 5,000 years ago. The discovery came as part of the first phase of research work of the Úcupe - Valle de Zaña Cultural Landscapes Archaeological Project, which began last June 3 at the archaeological site of Paredones de la Otra Banda - Las Ánimas, located in the Zaña districts, 48 kilometers from the city of Chiclayo.

Two archaeological units were excavated at this site: it is in the first one that the temple remains were found.

“We may be looking at a five-thousand-year-old religious site that constitutes an architectural space defined by walls built of rammed earth,” said Luis Armando Muro Ynoñán, director of the Úcupe - Valle de Zaña Cultural Landscapes Archaeological Project. “We have what would have been a central staircase from which one went up to a kind of stage in the central part.” The temple reveals friezes with anthropomorphic images in high relief featuring a human body with a bird’s head, feline images and reptilian claws. Special ceremonies were held in this place, and a wall covered with fine plaster with a pictorial design was discovered above.

In the second archaeological excavation unit, ceremonial architecture belonging to the late Moche period, between 600 and 700 AD, was found. The monument has buttresses and bases of a large stepped platform. The burial of an infant, about 5-6 years old, belonging to a later period, was also identified at the site.

The research is funded by the Catholic University of Peru and the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA). These investigations seek to examine the appearance, evolution, and development of the ceremonial center and elite cemetery of La Otra Banda and Úcupe, which were built and consolidated regionally between the Formative and Moche periods, in association with many other emerging centers in the Jequetepeque. and Lambayeque valleys.

Peru, 5,000-year-old ceremonial temple discovered

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