Archaeologists unveil skeletal remains believed to be ritual offering in Peru

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LIMA, Peru (AP) — Archaeologists on Tuesday unveiled the skeletal remains of an adult they believe was buried as an offering near the base of Huaca Pucllana, an ancient adobe pyramid in Peru's capital of Lima.

The remains are believed to be those of a man who may have been sacrificed during a ritual in which a canal linked to a ceremonial pool was closed.

Gladys Paz, the archaeologist who led the excavation, said the bones will help researchers better understand "the rituals of the Lima culture” and reconstruct ceremonies performed hundreds of years ago.

Paz said that the body was buried inside a canal, resting on its left flank, with the skull facing the pyramid and the Pacific Ocean.

The Lima culture flourished between the first and seventh centuries along Peru’s arid central coast, about 700 years before the rise of the Inca Empire.

Huaca Pucllana was one of the most important ceremonial and administrative centers of the Lima culture, which disappeared centuries before a group of Spanish conquistadors founded Lima in 1535.

Today, the pyramid is surrounded by parks, leafy streets and upscale apartment buildings in the districts of Miraflores and San Isidro.

Huaca Pucllana is open to tourists, with a restaurant serving Peruvian specialties like ceviche, stir-fried beef and roasted alpaca meat.

According to Peru’s government, there are more than 400 archaeological sites across metropolitan Lima. Pieter Van Dalen, an archaeology professor at the National University of San Marcos who was not involved in the excavation, said that it's common to find tombs, mummified remains and other burial-related items along Peru’s coast. Such discoveries have also been made while construction workers dig canals to install gas pipes.

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