The richly decorated cemetery where ancient women were recently discovered helps archaeologists better understand the complex gender relationships in South America’s oldest known civilizations. Excavation in the Aspero fishing village Creates some of the best looks still Caral civilizationAndean society was established around the same time as the rise of ancient Egypt. And, judging from the body that was five thousand years ago, society seems to have cultivated a relatively egalitarian culture that includes women as positions of power.
Long before the Incas there was charcoal. The first known South American culture, named after the city of Capitol, flourished in what is now Peru between 3000 and 1800 BC. The Caral Civilization is particularly known for its huge, architecturally complex city, and may have once been characterized by the world’s most densely populated regions. One of these settlements was Aspero, operated as a satellite fishing hub for Caral, about 112 miles north of Lima.
Aspero also included many Huacas (or temples), such as the Huaca de Losídolos, who served as a burial site for prominent community members. In 2016, archaeologists discovered the remains of a high society individual, later known as “.Four Toops Women. ” Funeral items and burial accessories suggested an egalitarian society, but more evidence was needed if experts wanted to strengthen the theory.
According to Peru’s Ministry of Culture, the additional evidence appears to have been discovered just a few feet away. With a recent updatearchaeologists have announced the excavation of another woman, buried in Huaca de Losídolos, as well decorated. The body appears to have belonged to a woman between 20 and 35 years old who stood about five feet tall. Unlike other skeletal ruins in the area at the time, the women are very well preserved, containing some skin, nails and hair.
The exceptional condition of the body can be partly due to how it was buried. Before the burial, the attendant wrapped the woman in a layer of cotton fabric and a hand-woven lash mat, and an embroidered mantle made using colorful congo wing feathers. The funeral included weave tools, bone needles, handmade containers, snail shells derived from the Amazon Basin, and a tucan beak decorated with green and brown beads. The grave also contains over 30 sweet potatoes, further suggesting the high social status of women.
The Ministry of Culture explained that her funeral and burial offering characteristics reinforced previous theory of the “primary women’s role” in calal society.
“In general, rulers were thought to be male or have a more prominent role in society,” says archaeologist David Palomino He told AFP. In both recent discoveries and the four Tupus women, Palomino believes that it is clear that women also “played a very important role in the Caral civilization.”
Following her excavation, archaeologists and colleagues will conduct a detailed investigation of the bodies and artifacts to better understand the women’s health, diet, cause of death, and the cultural context surrounding her burial.
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