Archaeologists in Peru have unearthed a 3,000 year old burial site of a Shaman, located near the city of Cajamarca in the province of Chota. The grave was discovered within the Pacopampa Archaeological Complex, a site that has been undergoing excavation since 2005 by teams of archaeologists from Japan and Peru.

Burial goods found with the Shaman, referred to as a ‘Priest’ in the press release by Peru’s Ministry of Culture included ‘stamps’ thought to have been used for body painting. One of these is thought to depict a Jaguar.

The burial site was discovered by a research team led by archaeologists Yuji Seki and Daniel Morales, who together with Mg. Juan Pablo Villanueva, gave notice to the Ministry of Culture of the find.

In the pit of approx. 1 meter deep, the face of the Shaman was covered with red cinnabar, a substance found in the mountains and that would have been the preserve of the upper echelons of society. This funerary context also included small spherical ceramic bowls as offerings that, together with the body, were covered with 6 layers of ash mixed with black earth.

Next to the edges of the tomb, in the upper strata two other seals were found: one with anthropomorphic face design towards the east and another with jaguar design towards the west.

Carbon dating has so far not been carried out and the estimated date of burial is based on other finds within the complex.

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