An estimated 3,000-year-old mummy believed to be from the Manchay civilization was discovered by archaeologists digging at a trash dump site near Lima, the capital of Peru.
Students from San Marcos University discovered the mummy after finding a skull and pieces of hair while excavating, as reported by the BBC.
The group carefully went through eight tons of garbage under the direction of archaeologist Miguel Aguilar before starting their strenuous quest for ancient relics. The Manchay culture, which flourished in Lima between 1500BC and 1000BC, is said to have left the mummy in a U-shaped temple.
According to Aguilar, the mummy was meticulously positioned in a tomb near the middle of the U-shaped structure. The Manchay civilization, famous for its temples that faced the rising sun, is characterized by its architectural alignment.
The Manchay people, during their "formative era" some 3,000 years ago, had a custom of laying down bodies flat.
Ancient mummy found under rubbish dump in Peru https://t.co/T9xwWBLu03
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The mummy, which is covered in material made of cotton and plant fibers, provides an intriguing look into the long-ago funeral practices of the Manchay society. Aguilar suggests the person was abandoned or sacrificed during the temple's last phase.
Teenage Mummy Unearthed
In April, Peruvian scientists uncovered a more than 1,000-year-old mummy on the outskirts of Lima, according to Reuters.
The teenage mummy was discovered in an underground grave, wrapped in a funeral bundle with pottery objects, rope, and pieces of skin and hair. Archaeologist Yomira Huaman hailed the mummy's preservation as remarkable.
The crew also discovered other items close to the teen mummy, believed to be aged 12 or 13, including a stone weapon, a plate, a copper needle, and scraps of fabrics, grain, and peppers, per Economic Times.
Before the arrival of Spanish conquistadors during the colonization of the Americas, numerous pre-Inca societies in what is now modern-day Peru practiced mummification on a large scale.
These recent mummy discoveries in Peru illuminate the practices, way of life, and material culture of the prehistoric civilizations that formerly predominated in the area.
