Archaeologists have discovered a royal tomb in Peru, which may provide information about the Wari Empire that ruled the Andes region before the Incas, changing the window of time when the Incan Empire ruled the area, according to Reuters.
"For the first time in the history of archeology in Peru, we have found an imperial tomb that belongs to the Wari empire and culture," Milosz Giersz, the lead archeologist on the project, told Reuters.
The discovery will help researchers piece together the life in the Andes region in the centuries before the rise of the Incan Empire, which was well documented by the Spanish conquerors.
The mausoleum was found at a pyramid site known as El Castillo de Huarmey, which translates to "the Castle on the River Huarmey." The site is located 185 miles north of Lima.
The ancient tomb, which was unearthed a few months ago, contained gold pieces, ceramics, and the skeletal remains of 63 people that are approximately 1,300 years old.
The researchers said that most of the remains were found sitting upright in the burial chamber, an indication that they were royalty. It also suggests that Wari women held more power in the society than previously thought.
"The women were buried with finely engraved ear pieces made of precious metals that once were believed to be used only by men," Patrycja Przadk, an archaeologist who worked on the excavation, said.
Historians now believe that the Wari people, who ruled between 600 and 1100 A.D., were the first people in the area to have united the diverse tribes into one society, which consisted on a network that stretched across much of today's Peruvian Andes.
Six of the skeletal remains weren't wrapped in textiles and appear to have been human sacrifices for the mummified elite, according to Wieslaw Wieckowski, a bioarcheologist.
"They were people thrown into the grave before the grave was sealed," he said. "They were lying on their bellies, in an extended position and their limbs went in different directions."
The archeologists told National Geographic that they kept the excavation secret because they were concerned about looters and grave robbers stealing artifacts.
"I was really very, very surprised to find the site unlooted," Giersz told USA Today.
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