After the sacrifice, the women were wrapped in fine clothes, and buried in stone-lined tombs. This is evident in the fact that many of the women still had the cotton garrotte used to strangle them twisted around their necks. In death, they were accorded the highest ritual, as they were sacrificed. In life, these women were responsible for weaving the textiles worn by priests, and brewing the corn beer used in many Incan festivals. For instance, on the southeastern terrace of the temple complex of Inti (the Incan sun god), archaeologists found a cemetery set apart for the mamacuna (Virgins of the Sun), women who held an important position in the temple services. These graves may be dated to different period of Pachacamac’s history, and different areas of the city contained different groups of graves. In the Lurin valley, 31 km south of Lima, Peru ( Wikimedia Commons )Īrchaeological excavations in the 1890s uncovered numerous graves at Pachacamac. In addition to being a religious site, Pachacamac was also a place was the dead were buried, as the sacred nature of Pachacamac would have made it an attractive burial place for those who wanted to be close to their god in the afterlife.

When the Incas conquered the area in the late 15 th century, they incorporated Pacha Kamaq into their own pantheon, though he was considered as a lesser rival of Viracocha, the creator god of the Incas. Therefore, Pachacamac functioned as an important religious and pilgrimage site. Pachacamac was named after Pacha Kamaq, the creator god worshipped by the pre-Incan people living in the area. Thus, Pachacamac is regarded as one of the longest continuously inhabited urban centres in the Andes. 200, and inhabited continuously until the Spanish Conquest in the 1530s. This site was thought to have been first settled in A.D. Pachacamac is an archaeological site located in the Valley of the Lurin River, 40 km southeast of Peru’s capital, Lima. Whilst the southern part of this country has produced the famous Chinchorro mummies, there are other mummies, such as the Pachacamac mummies, that are perhaps less well known. One of the countries outside Egypt in which numerous mummies have been found is Peru. Yet, this process has been practised by a variety of other cultures as well. Mummification is a word synonymous with the ancient Egyptians.

Why were some mummies lined with gold