Archaeologists from the University of San Marcos work at the site of a burial belonging to the Chantay pre-Columbian culture, which was found in a cemetery at Macaton mountain in the north-central Huaral valley, in Huaral, Peru February 24, 2023. REUTERS/Angela Ponce
HUARAL, Peru — Peruvian archaeologists have discovered some 30 pre-Inca era graves in a cemetery belonging to the Chancay people, a group who inhabited valleys of Peru’s central coast from 1000 to 1500 AD.
The newly found 800-year-old graves have allowed specialists to know more about the Chancay culture, which has been little researched, Pieter Van Dalen, archeologist at San Marcos university, told Reuters.
“In the last year we have discovered more than 2,000 burials in different cemeteries of the Chancay culture,” he added.
Television footage show archaeologists brushing dust off vases in different shapes with visible artwork in the cemetery.
The graves unearthed belong to people from different social classes, according to Van Dalen, who noted some were found at up to five meters (16.4 feet) below the surface and belonged to Chancay’s elite.