A group of Peruvian archaeologists has discovered two temples dating back more than four thousand years in a landfill spot the jungles in the north of the country. It is probably the oldest known temple building in Peru.
The temples were found near the village of Jaén, Cajamarca, in northern Peru. The excavation sites, locally known as Monte Grande and San Isidro, were previously used for agriculture and even as a garbage dump. The complex was in all likelihood built around 2,000 BC.
From the beginning, the scientists were helped by local residents who assisted them in moving huge stones weighing up to 200 kg. Human skeletons found in both the temples indicate that during the past 800 years the buildings were not abandoned and that they had been used for sacrifices, according to the El Comercio.
According to archaeologist Quirino Olivera, the temples can be associated with the early Bracamoros culture, a confederations of Amazonian tribal groups that inhabited the present-day Peru-Ecuador border. The discovery assumes significance not only because of the age of the temples but also because of their location – a contact zone between the jungle and the Andes mountains.
“We could be facing one of the earliest civilisations of Peru. If we keep digging we could find evidence dating back to before Chavín, Caral and Ventarrón cultures. Nor in the Andes, nor on the coast has anything been found that is quite so old,” Olivera was quoted as saying.
Cajamarca city itself a World Heritage Site. It is described by UNESCO as the setting of the encounter between the culture of Spain and the Andean world. According to UNESCO, the layout of the city and its buildings, both civil and religious, built of adobe and volcanic stone within the Historic Centre of Cajamarca, offer an exceptional testimony of Spanish-Andean culture.
