[Aztlan] Surprise chambered tomb found in Peru

[michael ruggeri]

Listeros,

In a surprise discovery, a man with a rattle device has been found  
buried with Moche priestesses at the site of San Jose El Moro in Peru.  
The bodies were surrounded by human and llama bones and ancient "smoke  
machines." The double chambered tomb dates to 850 CE. The wooden  
coffin containing the male was decorated with copper lattice and a  
gilded mask. The site had already yielded 7 royal priestesses. Ceramic  
bowls filled niches in the tomb area with smaller bowls within them.  
The bottles were heated and dropped into liquid filled bowls to create  
a steamy mist during the funeral. Behind the sealed door to the second  
painted chamber  were two females and a male in simple burials,  
perhaps sacrifices. Another male was sat cross legged and a lone mask  
was placed on the floor.

In the elite male's coffin was a mask, a long stick with bells and  
other metal objects. There is an archetype of a male with a rattle  
similar to this, and this may be the man that the archetypes  
represent. He is known as "Wrinkle Face," and is a central figure in  
burial scenes often shown lowering a coffin alongside another  
archetypal person named Iguana.

Moche expert Steve Bourget believes the tomb may be of a king  
surrounded by satellite tombs for priestesses.

National Geographic has the story with a good slide show of the finds;
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/09/090918-peru-tomb-moche-male-priestesses.html

A tiny URL;
http://tinyurl.com/ma754v

Mike Ruggeri

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