Archaeologists Unearth 4,000-Year-Old Ceremonial Temple in Peru
Archaeologists Unearth 4,000-Year-Old Ceremonial Temple in Peru
The structure appears to predate Machu Picchu, the country’s best-known archaeological site, by 3,500 years
Ella Feldman
Daily Correspondent
July 12, 2024 1:03 p.m.
Researchers in Peru say they have found the remains of a 4,000-year-old temple and theater, a discovery that could enrich historians’ understanding of ancient religious practices in the region.
“We still know very little about how and under which circumstances complex belief systems emerged in the Andes,” says Luis Muro Ynoñán, an archaeologist from Peru’s Pontifical Catholic University who led the team, in a statement. “Now we have evidence about some of the earliest religious spaces that people were creating in this part of the world.”
The ruins appear to predate Machu Picchu, the Inca settlement that is now Peru’s best-known archaeological site, by roughly 3,500 years. The researchers say they also predate pre-Inca cultures such as the Moche and Nazca.
“We don’t know what these people called themselves, or how other people referred to them,” Muro Ynoñan adds. “All we know about them comes from what they created: their houses, temples and funerary goods.”
Last month, researchers began excavating a 33- by 33-foot plot of land located near Zaña, a town in coastal Peru. Just six feet below the surface, they found evidence of ancient walls made of mud and clay.
More:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/archaeologists-unearth-4000-year-old-ceremonial-temple-in-peru-180984696/
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Intricate carvings depicting ancient gods adorn much of the structure
Field Museum scientist Luis Muro Ynoñán with the carving of a mythological bird creature in La Otra Banda, Cerro Las Animas. Courtesy of Ucupe Cultural Landscape Archaeological Project.
Adnan Qiblawi
July 12, 2024
Archaeologists working in Peru have made a truly remarkable discovery. The remains of an ancient temple and theater that have been dated to 3,500 years older than the famed ancient site of Machu Picchu have been uncovered by a team led by Luis Muro Ynoñán from the Field Museum in Chicago, Illinois.
While Machu Picchu, Peru’s most renowned archaeological site, was constructed by the Incan Empire approximately 600 years ago, the newly discovered temple predates it by a whopping 3,500 years. The people who built it were older than the Inca and even their predecessors, such as the Moche and Nazca cultures. “We don’t know what these people called themselves or how they were known by others. Our knowledge of them is derived solely from what they left behind: their houses, temples, and funerary goods,” Muro Ynoñán explained in a press release.
Courtesy of Ucupe Cultural Landscape Archaeological Project.
The discovery came after local authorities reported looting near the northern Peruvian town of Zaña, prompting Muro Ynoñán and his team to intervene and study the area before it was further damaged. With support from organizations like Dumbarton Oaks, Archaeology in Action, and the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru, the excavation commenced in June 2024.
In a 33-square-foot excavation plot, the scientists found ancient walls made of mud and clay just six feet under the ground.
Details of the discovery in Peru. Courtesy of Ucupe Cultural Landscape Archaeological Project.
Further excavation revealed a large temple built into the mountainside and a small theater with a stage-like platform, likely used for rituals. “The people here created complex religious systems and perceptions about their cosmos,” Muro Ynoñán says. “Religion was an important aspect of the emergence of political authority. People used religion to wield control over each other, early leaders personified mythological figures in performances. It gives us insight into the human mind because religion is still used as a tool for political purposes today.”
More:
https://news.artnet.com/art-world/4000-year-old-temple-predating-machu-picchu-unearthed-in-peru-2511434