Utility workers installing gas pipelines in Lima’s Puente Piedra district uncovered a pre-Inca mummy estimated to be around 1,000 years old, their company confirmed this week. The remains, discovered at the depth of 1.2 meters, belonged to a boy aged between 10 and 15 and were found in a seated position with arms and legs bent. The body was wrapped in a shroud alongside ceramic artefacts including plates, bottles, and jugs featuring geometric and fisherman motifs, as well as calabash gourds.The tomb has been allocated to the Chancay culture, which thrived on Peru’s central coast between the 11th and 15th centuries. Archaeologist, Jesús Bahamonde, director of the archaeological monitoring plan at gas company Cálidda, as reported by The Associated Press said the burial style and accompanying objects indicate the site dates to between 1000 and 1200 AD.Earlier in the excavation, workers came across the trunk of a huarango tree (a species native to coastal Peru) at just 50 centimeters below the surface. According to Bahamonde, such trees were historically used as a tomb markers in coastal Peru.As stated by AP, Jose Aliaga, another archaeologist with the company, noted that the mummy was found in a bundle and still had dark brown hair. He added that the discovery site was once agricultural land that has been transformed into a residential area in recent decades.Pieter Van Dalen, dean of the College of Archaeologists of Peru, explained that it is common to find funerary elements, such as tombs, burials, and mummified individuals, across Lima and the broader Peruvian coast, given the region’s long-standing human settlement and dry climate favourable to natural mummification.In line with national regulations, utility companies like Cálidda are required to employ archaeologists during excavation work to avoid damaging heritage sites. Since 2004, Cálidda has reported more than 2,200 archaeological discoveries across the city.
