Pre-Incan tomb with 1,000-year-old remains unearthed in Peru

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Utility workers excavating trenches to expand an underground gas network in the capital of Peru unearthed two pre-Incan tombs on Thursday that are more than 1,000 years old.

One of the tombs was empty while the other held the 1,000-year-old remains of an individual alongside four clay vessels and three pumpkin shell artifacts.

According to archaeologist José Aliaga, the vessels' iconography and their black, white, and red colors "allow us to establish a connection with the pre-Incan Chancay culture,' which is approximately 1,000 to 1,470 years old." Aliaga told The Associated Press that the individual was found wrapped in a torn bundle, in a sitting position with his legs against his chest, and his team will continue cleaning the remains.

"Lima is unique among Latin American capitals," Aliaga said, "in that various archaeological finds are unearthed during nearly every civil project."

The Peruvian capital of Lima, a city of more than 10 million people, has more than 400 archeological sites from the Inca era, the 15th century, or earlier, from the pre-Inca period, according to the Ministry of Culture.

Astonishingly, Thursday's discovery was not the first time Cálidda, the company that distributes natural gas in Lima, has found archeological remains. Over more than two decades of excavation work to expand the underground network, the company says it has made more than 2,200 discoveries.

Last month, utility workers found a 1,000-year-old mummy of a child aged between 10 and 15 while installing pipes. Archeologist Jesus Bahamonde told reporters at the time that the workers found the trunk of a huarango tree, "which served as a tomb marker in the past."

In April, archaeologists in Peru announced they found the 5,000-year-old remains of a noblewoman at the sacred city of Caral, in an area that for decades was used as a garbage dump.

Just days before that, researchers carrying out excavation work in southern Peru found an ancient tomb filled with the remains of two dozen people believed to be battle victims.

"It is very common to find archaeological remains on the Peruvian coast, including Lima, mainly funerary elements: tombs, burials, and, among these, mummified individuals," said Pieter Van Dalen, dean of the College of Archaeologists of Peru. Van Dalen was not involved in Thursday's discovery.

On Thursday, passersby stopped in their tracks to observe the burial site, even taking out their cellphones to take a picture.

"I always thought they were paths where no one had lived," said Flor Prieto, who was walking with her 7-year-old daughter. "But now I know that people older than the Incas have lived there…it feels so exciting."

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