Pre-Hispanic carved heads found in Peru
Two rare carved heads have been found in the ruins of a pre-Hispanic Chachapoya culture structure in Perus Amazonas region. Carved heads linked to the Chachapoya culture were known to exist, but this is the first time any of them have been found in their original archaeological context.The heads were made of sandstone and we found inside the debris of the perimeter walls of a circular structure. Based on where they were discovered, the carvings were originally mounted on the exterior of the structure wall. Chachapoya structures often had decorated walls, although typically the decoration involves geometric friezes, not mounted heads.The discovery was made as part of the Xalca Grande Archaeological Research Project, a comprehensive remote mapping program of the Ollape Archaeological Site. Researchers are using drones and LiDAR technology to generate high-precision maps of the site over the challenging mountain terrain. The team has identified more than 200 previously unknown pre-Hispanic structures of the Chachapoyas civilization, revealing the broad geographic extent and complexity of Chachapoyas settlements.Archaeologists from the Kuelap Archaeology and Anthropology Research Institute and the Xalca Grande Archaeological Project have followed-up on the remote data, investigating the structures on the ground. In addition to the carved heads, archaeologists recorded another unique finding: a zigzag motif on one of the wall geometric friezes.The Ollape Archaeological Site contains Chachapoyas settlements dating from between 900 and 1470 A.D. In mapping and exploring the structures, archaeologists aim to get a better understanding of Ollape daily life, what they did, how they interacted with their environment, their rituals, their social hierarchies, etc. The fieldwork has recovered numerous artifacts and remains, including pottery, stone tools, grinding stones and animal bones, the remains of a rare Andean bear among them.
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