Archaeologists have discovered the remains of what appears to be a 4,000-year-old temple and theater on the coast of Peru.
The discovery was made at the La Otra Banda archaeological site, Cerro Las Animas, located near the city of Chiclayo on the north coast of Peru, according to a report. Press release from the Field Museum in Chicago.
Researchers began digging at the site last month after the local government alerted them to looting taking place near the traditional town of Zaña. Scientists needed to “study the area before it is destroyed,” the local government said.
The excavation, led by scientist Luis Muro Ynoñán, revealed walls of mud and clay just two meters below the surface and evidence that suggests the structure once housed an ancient temple.
“It was so surprising that these very ancient structures were so close to the modern surface,” Muro Ynoñan said in the statement.
“We think a large temple was built on the mountainside and we found a section of it,” Muro Ynoñan said. The Ministerio de Cultura, or Ministry of Culture, in Peru he said Special ceremonies were held inside the temple.
The team also discovered what appeared to be a small theater with a “stage-like platform.”
“This could have been used to perform ritual performances before a selected audience,” said Muro Ynoñan.
Among the most interesting discoveries was a sculpture of a mythological bird creature etched into a mud panel near one of the theater’s staircases. Muro Ynoñán described it as an “anthropomorphic bird” with “some reptilian characteristics”.
He and his team have found similar depictions of the mythological creature in other archaeological digs dating back to the Early Period, around 4,000 years ago.
The discoveries, Muro Ynoñán said, could shed light on unanswered questions about the origins of ancient religion in Peru.
“The Early Period is important because this is when we begin to see evidence of institutionalized religion in Peru,” he said. “The bird creature in this temple resembles a figure known from the Chavín region nearly 500 years later. This new location may help reveal the origins of this religion.”
According to release from the Field Museum, the temple predates Machu Picchu – Peru’s best-known archaeological site, located in Cuzco – by around 3,500 years. The Incas built Machu Picchu around 600 years ago.
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