Peruvian archaeologists have a long history of good relations with local farmers. Working in the fields, ancient artifacts are often found in the ground. Rather than simply tossing shards of ancient crockery, broken figurines or tarnished jewelry aside, farmers take the beaten track to the National University of San Marco in Lima and hand over their findings to archaeologists. True, they do it not gratuitously - archaeologists pay for each artifact with a hard coin, but this, as they say, has nothing to do with the case.
Corn stalk bed
Largely thanks to these finds, archaeologists managed to draw up an approximate political map of Peru in pre-Columbian South America. So, in their opinion, two small cultures flourished on this territory from the 11th to the 15th centuries - Chiangkai and Chimu. The Chiangkai lived in the valley of the Waura River, and the Chimu lived on the Pacific coast. Good-neighborly relations were established between these two peoples, and there was lively trade. But about half a century before the arrival of the Spanish conquerors in America, both cultures were absorbed by the Inca empire.
And recently, an archaeological expedition, consisting of specialists from Peru and the United States, began exploratory excavations on the coast of the Huaura River, near the village of Rontoy. The result of the expedition exceeded the wildest expectations. Archaeologists have found a single burial (which is quite unusual for pre-Incan cultures), which was located under an ancient adobe building. Here, on a bed of corn stalks, rested the mummy of a 40-year-old man.
Time travel
In an interview with National Geographic, Keith Nelson, an anthropologist at Tulane, a private American university in Louisiana, USA, said that the mummy, which belongs to the little-studied Chiangkai culture, was tightly wrapped in fifteen layers of burial cloth, resembling gauze.
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“We carefully unwrapped the mummy for two months, taking care not to damage the fabric,” Keith Nelson said. - This activity became for us absolutely exciting and reminded of time travel. Each new layer of fabric, from which we freed the mummy, presented us with its own surprises. So, for example, in the top layer we found dense cotton balls of white color. They were located on the sides of the mummy. And after several layers, new balls were found, only one of them was brown. Perhaps these were some symbols. Or, such balls, moistened with an antiseptic, were used in the mummification process. This has yet to be clarified. In addition, we found grains and stumps of corn between the layers of fabric. So far, the discovery of this mummy has not given us the opportunity to answer any question arising about the Chiangkai culture.
The cause of death has not been established
Archaeologists nicknamed the mummy Kiko Ronta.
When the body was freed from the burial shroud, it turned out that the man was wearing a loincloth and two red shirts. A mask covered his face.
Removing the mask, archaeologists found that the mummy's eyes were covered with silver plates. The same plate was clamped between his teeth. Around Kiko's neck was a necklace of silver beads on a cotton thread. In his hands he held an empty cloth bag and a corn stalk. A black tattoo can be seen on the deceased's right leg. Next to Kiko was a doll, dressed the same way. like her master.
The cause of the man's death has not yet been established. There is no visible damage to his body. It is possible that he died due to illness, but it is difficult to say anything about this so far - all his internal organs in the process of preparation for the funeral rite were removed, and through the anus.
Farmers are advancing
Who was Kiko Rontoy? So far, archaeologists find it difficult to answer this question. Judging by the fact that his grave was located far from the common burial places, he was somehow different from his compatriots, for example, he could be a representative of the nobility or a priest.
In 1476, as a result of the Inca attack, the Chiangkai and Chimu peoples were defeated.
Now archaeologists are alarmed that the excavations, crowned with such a deafening success, will have to curtail. The sprawling farm estates threaten to turn the area into farmland. Then scientists will have only one way out: to hope that farmers, plowing the land, will still not throw aside the unique artifacts they have found, but will take them to specialists. At least counting on a reward …
Elena Landa. Secrets of the XX century magazine