Mysterious mummy unearthed in Peru
New York Times
AZ Central.com
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A mummy of mystery has come to light in Peru.
She was a woman who died some 1,600 years ago in the heyday of the Moche culture, well before the rise of the Incas. Her imposing tomb suggests someone of high status. Her desiccated remains are covered with red pigment and bear tattoos of patterns and mythological figures.
But the most striking aspect of the discovery, archaeologists said Tuesday, is not the offerings of gold and semiprecious stones or the elaborate wrapping of her body in fine textiles but the other grave goods.
She was surrounded by weaving materials and needles, befitting a woman, and two ceremonial war clubs and 28 spear throwers, or sticks that propel spears. Those items have never been found before in the burial of a Moche woman.
Was she a warrior princess, or perhaps a ruler? Possibly.
"She is elite but somewhat of an enigma," said Dr. John Verano, a physical anthropologist at Tulane University who worked with the Peruvian archaeologists who made the discovery last year.
May 18, 2006
New York Times
AZ Central.com
___________
A mummy of mystery has come to light in Peru.
She was a woman who died some 1,600 years ago in the heyday of the Moche culture, well before the rise of the Incas. Her imposing tomb suggests someone of high status. Her desiccated remains are covered with red pigment and bear tattoos of patterns and mythological figures.
But the most striking aspect of the discovery, archaeologists said Tuesday, is not the offerings of gold and semiprecious stones or the elaborate wrapping of her body in fine textiles but the other grave goods.
She was surrounded by weaving materials and needles, befitting a woman, and two ceremonial war clubs and 28 spear throwers, or sticks that propel spears. Those items have never been found before in the burial of a Moche woman.
Was she a warrior princess, or perhaps a ruler? Possibly.
"She is elite but somewhat of an enigma," said Dr. John Verano, a physical anthropologist at Tulane University who worked with the Peruvian archaeologists who made the discovery last year.
May 18, 2006
