ARCHAEOLOGISTS UNCOVER A PRE-COLUMBIAN TEMPLE COMPLEX
ARCHAEOLOGISTS FROM THE JAGIELLONIAN UNIVERSITY AND THE UNIVERSITY OF ST. MARK IN LIMA HAVE EXCAVATED A PRE-COLUMBIAN TEMPLE COMPLEX NEAR THE CITY OF BARRANCA IN PERU.
Excavations are part of the Programa de investigacion “Los valles de Barranca” project, which is exploring four large mounds on the Cerro Colorado hill.
Research conducted on two of the mounds revealed human burials and monumental architecture made of dried bricks and stone blocks. This has led to a widescale excavation of the site where the project has uncovered destroyed burials in the form of burial bundles, placed within the remains of a temple complex built of dried brick.
One of the destroyed burials contains the remains of a young boy whose skull was intentionally deformed. He was originally placed in a 3-metre-long fabric which is decorated with totally unique zoomorphic representations and was buried with decorated textiles suggesting that he came from a high-status family.
Image Credit : Łukasz Majchrzak
A physico-chemical analysis and carbon dating of organic remains has placed the construction of the temple complex to around 2500-2200 BC, while the same technique applied to the burials suggests that they were interred between AD 772 and 989.
Bioarchaeologist, Łukasz Majchrzak, said: “Andeans used to set up necropolises in abandoned places of worship. This was also the case here, because the graves were dug into structures that were several thousand years older.”
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https://www.heritagedaily.com/2023/03/archaeologists-uncover-a-pre-columbian-temple-complex/146441
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The area of Cerro Colorado ( Barranca ) was occupied during various moments of the pre-Hispanic era, according to the latest results obtained by the carbon 14 method.
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February 1, 2023 7:52 AM
Updated on February 01, 2023 7:52 AM
Cerro Colorado was also occupied during the time when the Huari culture developed in different areas of the Andean territory. | Source: Chamber of Tourism of Barranca-PIVAB
A team of archaeologists discovered a pre-Hispanic building at the Cerro Colorado archaeological site, in the Barranca beach circuit ), contemporary with the sacred city of Caral . The importance of the findings from the latest results obtained by the carbon 14 method were announced at a press conference convened by the Chamber of Tourism of the province of Barranca and the PIVAB (Los Valles de Barranca Research Project ) .
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"The first season of excavations (March 2022) in Cerro Colorado , has allowed the first radiocarbon dating. Thus, the carbon 14 samples bring us closer to the initial hypothesis, which states that this place was occupied during various moments of the pre-Hispanic era. This means that the oldest occupation corresponds to 2,470 - 2,276 BC, placing Cerro Colorado in the development range of the Caral Civilization ," he said.
It also refers that "the second dating corresponds to 772 - 989 AD, which indicates that the site continued (or was occupied again) during the time when the Huari culture developed in different areas of the Andean territory."
It should be remembered that the Caral culture developed between 3000 and 1800 BC and is contemporary with those of Mesopotamia and Egypt. The archaeological zone is located in the Supe Valley and has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2009.
https://rpp.pe/peru/lima/barranca-arqueologos-hallan-edificio-prehispanico-en-cerro-colorado-contemporaneo-con-caral-noticia-1463698
