Archaeologists announced Tuesday that they had discovered a prehispanic mural over 3000 years old in northern Peru, on the archaeological site of Huaca Yolanda, 580 kilometers north of Lima. It is unprecedented and unique by its style, its three -dimensional design and its iconography.
At least three millennia, the work “has quite unique characteristics for Peruvian archeology”, notes Ana Cecilia Mauricio, director of excavations on the site and researcher at the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru.
It has been updated in an archaeological zone which extends over more than 20 hectares, where rectangular squares and visible buildings were built.
![Aerial view of the monumental archaeological site of Huaca Yolanda, in the department of Libertad, in Peru. The fresco was discovered towards green protections, at the top of the image. [AFP - Handout / Pontifical Catholic University of Peru]](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw== "Aerial view of the monumental archaeological site of Huaca Yolanda, in the department of Libertad, in Peru. The fresco was discovered towards green protections, at the top of the image. [AFP - Handout / Pontifical Catholic University of Peru]")
Polychrome
On this fresco over five meters long and two meters high are represented fish, stars, fishing nets as well as plants or tubers, painted in blue, yellow and apparently in black.
“We have never found iconography or drawings of this type,” she explains. Another peculiarity is that the wall is decorated on both sides.
“This discovery […] reveals the historical and cultural richness of the Peruvian people “. It will help archaeologists to better understand the ancient populations who populated the north coast of Peru during the formative period, an era which extends from 1800 to 200 BC. (Read box).
This wall is part of the interior of an atrium located at the highest point of a temple in the shape of a U. It is in good condition because it has been buried in the past, probably by the same people who have built it, in order to build another room over it, reports Andinathe Peruvian government news agency. A common practice in the civilizations of ancient Peru.
“The interior of a temple more than 3000 years old and richly decorated is rarely seen in this region of the country,” says Ana Cecilia Mauricio. The local Tanguche community is also very enthusiastic about this archaeological discovery: school students have already planned a visit to the site.
Stéphanie Jaquet and AFP
