Mummy may shed light on ancient civilisation

ARCHAEOLOGISTS probing Peru’s lifeless northern desert discovered a 1,500-year-old mummy that may unlock secrets of the Moche, one of the mysterious civilisations that once ruled the Andean nation.

Named the Lady of Cao by researchers after it was found by a ceremonial pyramid near the Pacific Ocean, the tattooed mummy is the first female Moche leader ever discovered. It could debunk theories that the culture, known for its pottery and human sacrifices, was governed only by men.

Unveiling the mummy this week, US and Peruvian archeologists said the woman, who probably died during childbirth at age 25, had religious and magical figures of spiders and snakes tattooed on her arms, much to the surprise of the investigating experts.

“The conservation of her body is exceptional. We found her buried with mercury sulphide that helped eliminate microorganisms and help the preservation,” said Regulo Franco, one of the archeologists who has spent 16 years excavating the Huaca Cao Viejo pyramid with funding from a Peruvian bank.

The Lady of Cao was found with two ceremonial war clubs and 23 spear throwers — sticks that propel spears — puzzling archeologists, who say such items have previously only been found in male Moche graves.

The woman was also buried with three other mummies, including a teenage girl, who was probably strangled as a sacrifice to the Moche leader.

Those mummies will be unwrapped over the next few months. Archeologists, backed by Peruvian bank and government funding and by the US-based National Geographic Society, hope to extract DNA to see if they are the bodies of relatives.

The culture of the Moche, who built the largest adobe pyramid in the Americas, developed along Peru’s northern coast. It flourished in the river valley oases from 100AD to 800AD. The Lady of Cao dates to 450AD.