Archaeologists have discovered the ruins of a temple dating back around 5,000 years in northwestern Peru, a Peruvian researcher said, saying the building was used to celebrate religious rituals.
The discovery took place several weeks ago at the archaeological site of Los Paredones de la Otra Banda – Las Animas, near the town of Chiclayo. It was only announced on Friday in order to protect the place from treasure looters.
High relief friezes
“It is possible that we are facing a 5,000-year-old religious enclosure,” researcher Luis Muro said in a video released by the Peruvian Ministry of Culture. The “architectural space is delimited by walls” made of clayey earth, he added.
Among what remains of the temple, archaeologists have identified friezes with anthropomorphic figures in high relief, including a human body with a bird’s head, representations of felines and even reptile claws.
The burial of a young child
The burial of a child of approximately five to six years old was also identified during this archaeological research, funded by the Catholic University of Peru and the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA).
The team of archaeologists also found the remains of what “would have been a central staircase through which one could climb onto a sort of platform in the central part” of the temple, Luis Muro said.
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