Mummies of children from at least 1,000 years ago unearthed near residential area in Peru
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Some of the human remains were found at the foot of a staircase on a small hill which is believed to have once hidden a temple in Lima.
Researchers have discovered mummified remains of children at a site in the South American country Peru. The mummies which were discovered on Monday (Nov 20) belong to the Ychsma culture that developed on Peru's central coast.
In Peru, the site where the four children's mummies were found is near homes and a field used by a Peruvian professional soccer team for training in Lima, according to the Associated Press.
The hill where the mummies were discovered was covered in rubbish, and excavators worked for months to clear it, according to the AP.
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Where exactly the mummies were found?
Some of the human remains were found at the foot of a staircase on a small hill which is believed to have once hidden a temple in Lima. According to experts, the temple was likely built some 3,500 years ago.
"This whole area is a very important ceremonial chamber," Luis Takuda, an archaeologist in Lima's Rimac district, was quoted as saying by Reuters. "The people who lived here during the Ychsma period still considered it a sacred space and therefore buried their dead here."
The mummies' skulls still had hair on them, according to Takuda.
Lima's archaeological relevance
Apart from housing some 10 million people, the Peruvian capital is home to some 400 archaeological ruins.
Peru's largest archaeological sites are located outside Lima in places such as Cusco, which was the capital of the Inca Empire and fell to Spanish conquistadores in the 16th century.
Also watch | Peru archaeologists unearth 1,000-year-old mummies of children in Lima
Seeing huacas, or sacred sites, is not uncommon in Lima.
Have mummies been discovered before in Lima?
Yes. According to reports, mummies or preserved ancient human remains have been discovered in the past as well.
Also read | Mexican congress deems three-fingered mummies 'real,' but refrains from confirming alien origins
Earlier this year, another 1,000-year-old skeleton was uncovered in Peru's Miraflores district. Just like the one found on Monday, it too had long, preserved hair, Smithsonian Magazine said.
Mummified children in Egypt
Archaeologists in Egypt in the past have discovered unwrapped mummified children with blonde hair, according to a study published in 2020 by the journal Forensic Science, Medicine and Pathology.
The three children had fair hair due to ancestry, the researchers had said.
(With inputs from agencies)
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