Ancient noblewoman's 5000-year-old remains found in Peru
A team of archaeologists on Thursday said they had unearthed the 5,000-year-old remains of a noblewoman in Caral, Peru.
"What has been discovered corresponds to a woman who apparently had elevated status, an elite woman," archaeologist David Palomino told the AFP news agency.
Palomino said the woman's remains were carefully preserved in layers of fabric, with a mantle of macaw feathers. It contained her skin as well as part of her nails and hair.
Preliminary findings show that the woman was between 20-35 years old and was about 5 feet tall (around 1.5 meters).
Palomino said "it was generally thought that rulers were men, or that they had more prominent roles in society." But the finding announced on Thursday indicates that women were an important part of the ancient Caral civilization.
The team presented the woman's funeral trousseau to reporters at Peru's culture ministry, which included a toucan beak, a stone bowl and a straw basket. The exact date of her burial has not been determined.
The noblewoman was found in Aspero, which earlier used to be a municipal dumping ground, before becoming an archaeological site in the 1990s.
The Caral civilization, one of the oldest in South America, existed around 3000 BC to 1800 BC, around the same time as other great civilizations in Mesopotamia, Egypt and China.
Caral city is located in the Supe Valley, about 180 kilometers (113 miles) north of capital Lima. It was declared a UN World Heritage Site in 2009.
Edited by: Saim Dušan Inayatullah
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