Archaeologists at Peru’s ancient city of Chan Chan have discovered a remarkably intact funerary platform containing the remains of 38 people and an array of high-status grave goods, offering a rare glimpse into the burial practices of the powerful Chimú elite more than 600 years ago.
The discovery was made within the Utzh An walled complex, formerly known as the Gran Chimú Palace, during archaeological research and conservation work led by Peru’s Ministry of Culture.
Among the finds are elaborate metal ornaments, headdresses, carved wooden boxes, shell and quartz necklaces, weapons and ceremonial objects.
One burial has particularly intrigued archaeologists because the individual was laid fully extended — a position that differs markedly from typical Chimú funerary practices and has raised the possibility that the person may have been sacrificed.
The Ministry of Culture described the discovery, announced on 8 September, as exceptional because the tombs and their contents have survived largely undisturbed for more than six centuries.
Intact tombs beneath Chan Chan
The newly identified funerary platform consists of a central chamber flanked by two larger side chambers.
The central chamber measures approximately 1.2 metres wide and five metres deep. An entrance leads to a staircase descending about 2.5 metres into the chamber, which also contains a niche.
Inside, archaeologists discovered the remains of one person accompanied by numerous objects made from shell and metal.
Each of the two side chambers measures approximately 1.5 metres wide, eight metres long and extends 3.5 metres beneath the working surface.
Their contents differ considerably. One chamber contained no human remains but held weapons and metal emblems. Excavations in the other have so far revealed 20 individuals.
Together with another 18 people found elsewhere on the funerary platform, the discoveries bring the total number of identified individuals to 38.
Mysterious burial raises possibility of sacrifice
One skeleton discovered towards the rear of a chamber is unlike the others.
Rather than being buried in the flexed or seated-flexed positions commonly associated with Chimú funerary traditions, the individual was placed fully extended.
Archaeologists say the unusual treatment raises questions about the person’s identity, status and circumstances of death.
Among the hypotheses being considered is that the individual may have been the victim of a sacrificial ritual. Another possibility is that the unusual burial position reflected a substantial difference in social rank between that person and the others interred on the platform.
Further examination of the remains will be required before researchers can determine whether there is evidence supporting either interpretation.
Jewellery, headdresses and sacred red pigment
The objects surrounding the dead provide strong evidence that the funerary complex was associated with high-ranking members of Chimú society.
Archaeologists found fine metal ear ornaments, necklaces and headdresses alongside carved wooden boxes decorated with metal appliqués. Numerous necklaces manufactured from seashells and quartz were also recovered.
Several individuals had traces of red pigment on their heads, while the same colour was identified on a number of ceramic objects.
According to the Ministry of Culture, the sacred red pigment was reserved for high-ranking burials in Andean societies, further supporting the interpretation that those interred at the site belonged to the Chimú elite.
Tomb offers rare undisturbed evidence
The condition of the funerary platform makes the discovery particularly significant.
Jorge Meneses, the archaeologist overseeing the project, said much of what researchers previously knew about elite Chimú tombs came from burial platforms that had been looted and damaged since the colonial period.
Objects removed from those sites subsequently entered museum and private collections, leaving archaeologists with incomplete information about their original archaeological contexts.
The newly discovered platform is different.
“What was known about elite Chimú tombs before this discovery came from platforms looted and destroyed since colonial times, with altered and incomplete contexts,” Meneses said.
Archaeologists now have the unusual opportunity to study the human remains and artefacts in the positions in which they were deposited approximately 600 years ago.
That context could prove crucial for reconstructing the identities, hierarchy and funerary traditions of the people who once occupied Chan Chan.
Archaeologists create 3D record before removing remains
Recovering the burials presents a significant conservation challenge.
Centuries of exposure to coastal humidity have left the human bones and organic materials extremely fragile, meaning researchers cannot simply remove the remains from the chambers.
Instead, specialists are documenting each burial using high-precision photogrammetry before excavation proceeds.
Hundreds of photographs are taken from different angles and processed to create detailed three-dimensional models of the archaeological context with millimetre-level precision.
Only after the position of the skeletons and objects has been digitally recorded can archaeologists begin their delicate removal.
Peru’s Culture Minister, Alberto Beingolea Delgado, said the unusual burials demonstrated the importance of continued archaeological investigation at the site.
“Identifying findings of this magnitude, with atypical burials and evidence that raises new questions about possible sacrificial rituals, demonstrates that public investment in archaeological sites like Chan Chan generates incalculable value,” he said.
New clues to the final centuries of Chan Chan
Researchers hope the excavations will also help answer questions extending beyond the funerary platform itself.
Henry Gayoso Rullier, head of the Research, Conservation and Enhancement Unit of the Chan Chan Archaeological Complex Special Project, said investigators want to establish more precisely how the walled complex was used over time.
One major question concerns what happened at Chan Chan following the expansion of the Inca Empire into the region.
Researchers hope future evidence will help establish when and how the Incas occupied the city after conquering the Moche Valley — an episode that remains poorly understood archaeologically.
Chan Chan, on Peru’s northern coast, was the political centre of the Chimú civilisation and developed into one of the largest pre-Columbian cities in the Americas.
The latest discovery could now provide an exceptionally well-preserved snapshot of the people at the highest levels of that society, preserved alongside the objects chosen to accompany them in death.
A book detailing the archaeological team’s interpretations and conservation work is planned following the completion of the Gran Chimú project.
Sources : Peruvian State
