Pre-Inca Tombs: 1000-Year-Old Tomb Found In Peru

Archeologists have discovered four pre-Inca tombs in Peru, which are over 1,000 years old. The tombs were found in a pre-historic, pyramid-shaped cemetery located in the midst of a residential community in Lima, according to a news release.

"So this is the first district in the country that has more than 1,500 years of known history to date," said Isabel Flores, an archaeologist and director of the program in Huaca Pucllana, which is a ceremonial section in the Miraflores area.

The discovery revealed evidence on the early presence of the Ichma culture in Lima from over 1,000 years ago. They were a pre-Incan indigenous culture that occupied the central coast, however, the group vanished during 1450, as the Inca Empire became dominant and, Inca imperialism became widespread within the territory.  

"There are four human burial sites, for adult individuals, three women and one man, who lived between the years 1000 to 1450," Flores said. "These are the first four tombs of the Ichma culture, we think that we may still find more."

Flores has carried out research on the site for over thirty years and she also runs the Huaca Pucllana Museum.

There is an average of 350 of these "huacas," or ceremonial sites, which were created before the Spaniards colonized the region, according to the researchers. The remains in the tombs were facing the sea, where they were swathed in cloth-like fabric and ceramic potteries and various tools were also present in the tombs. 

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