Archeologists find centuries-old mummy in Peru

A centuries-old mummy of a 12 or 13-year-old child has been unearthed Peru, archeologists announced Monday. 

The mummy was found wrapped in a funerary bundle underground at the Cajamarquilla archeological site, just outside Lima, the dig team, affiliated with the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, said in a press release. The child, whose gender is unknown, would have lived about 800 years ago and could have belonged to the Lima or Ichma civilizations, archeologists disclosed.

Coarse sand and high salt levels would have led to the child’s natural mummification, lead archeologist Yomira Huamán said in the release. It also allowed the arms and legs to retain some skin. There was still hair on the head, which was separated from the body, archeologists said, and parts of teeth were also still in the jaw. 

Archeologists also found grave goods next to the mummified remains, including a boleadora (stone weapon), a mate (plate) and a copper needle.

Researchers will continue to analyze the body and the grave goods, they said in the release. With new information, they’ll be able to determine what the child did, and what they could have died of. 

In 2022, archaeologists at the Cajamarquilla site found six mummified children. 

In this stage of the Cajamarquilla dig, which started in December 2022 and will run through December of this year, archeologists have excavated three units, according to the dig team. Another four are in the process.