Photos: Mummy Bundles, Child Sacrifices Found on Pyramid

Mask of the Mummy

Photograph by Cris Bouroncle, AFP/Getty Images

Wrapped in layers of fabric and vegetation, mummies of an apparently elite Wari woman and a likely child sacrifice are exposed in Lima's mud-brick Huaca Pucllana pyramid on October 20.

Though the mummy bundles' fake heads—made of cloth or carved from wood—appear well preserved, "the state of the bodies inside might be only bones or partially dried-out bodies," Espinosa said in an email translated from Spanish.

(Also see pictures of a Roman-style mummy and tombs recently found in Egypt.)

Published October 25, 2010

Fabric of Time

Photograph by Cris Bouroncle, AFP/Getty Images

A worker cleans the false head atop a child's mummy bundle in Huaca Pucllana pyramid on October 20.

Around the principal mummy—thought to have been an individual of high social rank—archaeologists found sacks of fabric and needles, suggesting the bundle holds a woman, Espinosa said.

Wari tombs have been found at Huaca Pucllana before, but the new discovery is the first known intact Wari tomb at the site. It was sealed by a roof of branches, cattails, and adobe bricks.

"This discovery will allow us to know the exact manner of an elite Wari funeral," Espinosa said.

(Find out why experts think some prehistoric Chilean mummies were poisoned.)

Published October 25, 2010

Awaiting Unbundling

Photograph by Enrique Castro-Mendivil, Reuters

Atop Lima's Huaca Pucllana pyramid, archaeologists found 11 drinking vessels, a ceramic bowl, and six cloth bags, in addition to the new Wari mummies. Some of the bags contained corn or sewing tools.

The condition of the mummies is currently unknown. The archaeologists plan to x-ray the bundles and then open them up for anthropological analyses.

(Pictures: Frozen Inca Mummy Goes on Display.)

Published October 25, 2010

Pyramid Looming Over Lima

Photograph by Enrique Castro-Mendivil, Reuters

Excavation work continues at the pyramid at the center of the Huaca Pucllana archaeological site in the Peruvian capital. Prior to occupation by the Wari, the eight-story-tall monument was a ceremonial center for the Lima culture, for which the surrounding city is named.

In addition to the undisturbed tomb containing the mummies, archaeologists have discovered 61 other Wari mummy bundles at the site, though each had been subject to looting. The newfound, undisturbed crypt should allow a reconstruction of the entire Wari funerary complex believed to exist here, Espinosa said.

(See pictures of ancient Egyptian animal mummies.)

Published October 25, 2010