Mummies of the Chinchorro people, dating 7400 years to the past, are scheduled for DNA analysis and computerized tomography scans. The 15 selected mummies of mostly children and unborn babies, were found on the Pacific coast of South America, at the edge of the Atacama desert.
Evidence of 9500-year-old funerary rituals involving mutilation, removal of muscles and teeth, and possibly cannibalism of fresh corpses was found in Lapa do Santo, a cave in east-central Brazil.
Archaeologists from Poland and Italy are working together on numerous sites scattered across South America, in order to preserve and restore them and also to unravel their ancient mysteries. These sites include the geoglyphs at Nazca Desert, Inca sites in the Machu Picchu area in Peru, and the sites of Tiwanaku and Samaipata in Bolivia.
The Chinchorro mummies, being world oldest ones, buried more than 7000 years ago in northern Chile are being turned into black slime, due to bacteria thriving on the preserved skin. Chilean researchers blame climate changes and ask for aid in their fight for preservation of the mummified human remains.
Burials of dogs and other animals, being 1000 years old, are still being found in the area of the ZOO in Lima, Peru, revealing the importance of animals in the pre-Columbian culture of the region.
Cleanup workers discovered an ancient pre-hispanic Inca altar at the Vilcanota River in the Cuzco region, south-eastern Peru.
Archaeologists discovered new artefacts at the Mayan burial site of prominent members of Copán aristocracy. The burial sites located in West Honduras are dated to between 500-550 AD.
The skull of the Moche mummy discovered in 1987 in Huaca Rejada near Sipán in Peru, known as the Lord of Sipán, received a digital facial reconstruction despite its severe damage.
An approach of a combination of satellite imagery, aerial photography by drones and ground surveys lead to a discovery of dozens of new geoglyphs in at Quilcapampa, in the Sihuas Valley, Peru.
Remains of a 200-year-old plantation manager’s building, owner’s mansion and a kitchen building were unearthed through excavation in La Caroline, north-eastern French Guiana. The plantation was one of hundreds functioning between 18th-19th centuries in that area of South America.
American archaeologists in Peru discovered a piece of a 6200-year-old textile that has been dyed indigo-blue. It is believed to be one of the oldest known cotton textiles and the oldest one dyed to this colour in the world.
A site of an ancient temple at Chotuna-Chornancap, in Lambayeque region on Peru’s northern coast revealed more than 13 graves dated to 15th and 16th cent. BC. Among the graves two burials containing the remains of footless children, possibly ritually sacrificed, have been found.
Chilean researchers documented over 150 rock art paintings in the Coquimbo Region, South of Atacama Desert in northern Chile. Specialised digital analysis software was used to detect colours and patterns unobservable in normal conditions by human eye.
Archaeologists conducting excavations at Lima’s ZOO discovered remains of over 100 dogs and humans dating back to pre-Columbian times. Some of the dogs were mummified with skin and hair still preserved.
Archaeologists in Peru discovered an ancient burial in Los Olivos district of the capital, Lima. The human remains were bundled up in a funerary basket.
LiDAR technology helped researchers to uncover evidence of architectural structures hidden under vegetation in the vicinity of Machu Picchu in Peru. Among the newly discovered structures are terraces and platforms and pathways of the Inca Trail stretch.
Researchers from Cusco’s Cultural Department discovered pre-Hispanic rock paintings in the area of Pachamama, near the access road that leads to Machu Picchu, the Inca citadel of dated to 15th century.
A team of Peruvian and Japanese archaeologists discovered a new geoglyph on the Nazca desert at Pampa de Majuelos. It depicts a 30-meter-long figure drawn upon the arid plateaus that would represent an animal with a long tongue.
Archaeologists focus attention on the mysterious site in Peru that consists of numerous, dense pattern of holes in the ground following a linear outline. The site, known as Band of Holes, is located in the Pisco Valley in Southern Peru.
Remains of a high-status woman buried about 4,500 years ago at the archaeological site of Aspero, being Caral civilization’s fishing town.