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| Peruvian Culture Ministry (via REUTERS) |
Beneath five metres of stone fill at Peru’s Chan Chan, archaeologists have found a nearly intact funerary platform containing 38 individuals. The discovery could provide unusually direct evidence of how the Chimú elite buried, organised and remembered their dead.
The Discovery
For more than six centuries, a dense mass of stone helped protect a Chimú funerary platform from looters.
The structure was uncovered within the walled complex of Utzh An, the former Great Chimú Palace, at Chan Chan on Peru’s northern coast. Chan Chan was the political centre of the Chimú kingdom and the largest adobe city in the Americas.
The discovery was made by a wholly Peruvian archaeological team working under the Chan Chan Archaeological Complex Special Project, sponsored by Peru’s Ministry of Culture.
The funerary platform is nearly square, measuring approximately 17 metres on each side and standing about five metres high. Inside are a central chamber and two side chambers.
Archaeologists found the remains of a principal individual, potentially a member of the Chimú elite, together with the remains of 37 other people whose skeletons were described as complete.
Metal weapons, copper objects and gold artefacts were also recovered.
The find is especially important because many previous accounts of Chimú elite burials have depended on objects recovered from looted monuments, private collections or museum holdings. In this case, archaeologists have the opportunity to study individuals and artefacts together within their archaeological context.
What Archaeologists Found
The most striking discovery is the group of 38 individuals preserved within the platform.
The principal individual differs from the other burials because their skeleton is incomplete. Archaeologist Jorge Meneses Bartra, who leads the investigation, believes this may indicate that the body had been moved before the platform was finally sealed.
Such movement of the dead is known from Andean societies, where mummified remains could be relocated and parts of skeletons retained as family relics.
The principal skull also carries a red pigment. Researchers have yet to determine whether it is cinnabar, a bright red mineral composed of mercury sulphide. Similar reddish colouring appears on some of the other individuals.
Laboratory analysis will be required to establish the composition of the pigment and understand its significance.
The associated objects could prove equally important. Weapons and copper and gold artefacts may help researchers determine differences in status among those buried within the platform.
The crucial question is not simply what was buried there, but which objects belonged to which individuals and what those associations reveal about Chimú social hierarchy.
Historical Background
The Chimú civilisation flourished along Peru’s northern coast between approximately AD 900 and 1470, before the expansion of the Inca.
Its capital, Chan Chan, developed into an enormous urban centre constructed largely from adobe. The city contained large walled compounds associated with political and elite power.
Members of the ruling class were buried on funerary platforms within these compounds.
That makes the new discovery particularly significant. Rather than representing an isolated burial outside the political centre, the platform was located within Utzh An, one of Chan Chan’s major walled complexes.
The Chimú used elaborate funerary practices in which the treatment and placement of the dead could reflect social position. Precious metals, weapons and pigments therefore have significance beyond their material value.
The new evidence could allow archaeologists to investigate how these objects were distributed among individuals and whether the arrangement corresponds to differences in rank or role.
For decades, however, looting has complicated this picture. Objects separated from their original archaeological contexts can reveal craftsmanship and artistic traditions but cannot always show precisely who possessed them or how they were arranged during burial.
The newly excavated platform offers an opportunity to examine those relationships directly.
Scientific Analysis
The excavation has produced several questions that can only be answered through laboratory research.
The red material on the principal skull and other remains must be analysed to establish whether it is cinnabar or another pigment. If cinnabar is confirmed, researchers will be able to consider how the substance was used during the funerary process.
The human remains will also require detailed examination. The incomplete skeleton of the principal individual is particularly important because it may provide evidence for an earlier movement or reburial.
The recovered weapons and copper and gold objects will likewise need to be documented and associated with the individuals and chambers in which they were found.
According to Meneses, the absence of comparable scientific data from many earlier elite Chimú burials has limited researchers’ ability to reconstruct relationships between people and grave goods.
This excavation therefore provides an unusually controlled archaeological context.
The investigation involved 98 people, including archaeologists, surveyors, conservators, photographers, civil engineers and labourers.
Once fieldwork ends, laboratory analyses will begin, followed by conservation work.
Why This Discovery Matters
The importance of the Chan Chan tomb extends beyond the number of people buried inside it.
It offers a rare opportunity to examine a Chimú elite burial without the disruption caused by looting. Human remains, architecture, pigments and grave goods remain connected to the same archaeological context.
That could allow researchers to investigate social hierarchy, funerary customs and the treatment of the dead with considerably greater precision.
The possible movement of the principal individual adds another layer. If the incomplete remains resulted from a deliberate reburial or the removal of skeletal parts, the discovery could contribute to understanding how Chimú communities maintained relationships with their dead after the initial burial.
What did the Chimú believe they were preserving when they moved the dead or retained parts of their remains?
That question cannot yet be answered from the discovery alone, but the archaeological evidence provides an opportunity to investigate it.
The discovery also matters because so little of Chan Chan has been excavated. The protected archaeological zone covers approximately 1,414 hectares, yet only around 7% of its total area has been investigated.
The new tomb may therefore be one of many archaeological stories still hidden beneath the city.
What’s Next?
The current excavation is expected to conclude shortly, after which researchers will begin laboratory analysis of the human remains, pigments and associated artefacts.
Conservation will follow, with the excavated areas eventually closed ahead of the heavy rains expected in November.
Researchers will focus particularly on establishing the composition of the red pigment and examining the relationships between the 38 individuals and the objects recovered alongside them.
The results could help determine whether the principal individual held an elite position and whether the other burials represented family members, attendants or people occupying different positions within Chimú society.
Further excavation at Chan Chan could also reveal additional funerary platforms or evidence of elite activity.
Much of the interior of the ancient walled compounds remains unexplored.
Conclusion
A nearly intact funerary platform at Chan Chan has preserved the remains of 38 individuals, including a possible Chimú elite figure, alongside weapons and copper and gold objects.
The platform's survival for roughly six centuries was aided by the stone fill that covered it, protecting the burial from looters and leaving archaeologists with an unusually valuable archaeological context.
Laboratory research will now investigate the red pigment, human remains and artefact associations. With only a small portion of Chan Chan excavated, the discovery also points towards a much larger archaeological record still waiting beneath Peru’s ancient adobe capital.
FAQ
How old is the newly discovered Chimú tomb?
The funerary platform was sealed roughly 600 years ago. It belongs to the Chimú civilisation, which flourished on Peru’s northern coast between about AD 900 and 1470.
How many people were found in the tomb?
Archaeologists found the remains of 38 individuals. Thirty-seven had complete skeletons, while the principal individual had incomplete remains.
What objects were found with the burials?
Researchers recovered metal weapons as well as copper and gold objects. A red pigment was also found on the principal skull and on some other remains.
Where was the tomb discovered?
The funerary platform was found at Chan Chan in the La Libertad region of northern Peru, within the walled Utzh An complex, the former Great Chimú Palace.
