[Aztlan] Important tomb find at La Pava de Mochumi, Peru

[Benjamin Carter]

All,

This is an interesting find, but there are clearly some errors in 
translation. In the piece from ArtDaily that John Schwaller forwarded, 
the article talks about nectarine seeds. Let's be very clear that these 
are not nectarine seeds, but nectandra seeds. Nectandra are associated 
with curing and have been found with many, many burials on the North 
Coast of Peru.

Also, the statement about a 'fan shaped shell for smoking' is very odd. 
Looking at the original Spanish article (see below) from El Comerico, 
they are clearly talking about concha de abanico, which for the rest of 
us is a scallop shell. I am not sure how this was used for 'smoking', 
but it may have simply served as a flat (ish) surface for burning 
something. The El Comercio bit indicates that it was tobacco, but I am 
not sure how they know that.

I look forward to seeing more about this, thank you to John and Mike for 
forwarding these.

http://elcomercio.pe/noticia/403168/arqueologos-hallan-semillas-afrodisiacas-tumba-antiguo-curandero

Ben Carter

On 1/23/2010 10:07 PM, michael ruggeri wrote:
> Listeros,
>
> The tomb of a Sican curandero or shaman has been found at the Lambayeque site of La Pava de Mochumi near Tucume. He was found buried with 500 nectandra seeds, considered aphrodisiacs, and a fan shaped shell for smoking, textiles, a ceramic jug and wooden staff. Another burial of an important person was found nearby with prestige objects. The burial caches shows the intense cultural, artistic, technological and religious activities in the Mochumi area. There are hundreds of towering pyramids in this area, thousands of temples and the world's longest artificial canals.
>
> En Peru has the report here;
> http://enperublog.com/2010/01/23/tomb-of-800-year-old-shaman-discovered/
>
> Mike Ruggeri
>
> Mike Ruggeri's Andean Archaeology News and Links
> http://tinyurl.com/d92x3n
>
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