(Astigan) — Archaeologists have discovered about 10,000 cave paintings dating back to more than 6,000 years, a pre-Incan cemetery and a citadel in Peru’s Amazon region.
6,000 year old cave paintings
Quirino Olivera, a Peruvian archaeologist working for the Andean country’s jungle department of Amazons, has discovered about 10,000 cave paintings that are said to date back more that 6,000 years. The paintings were discovered in caves near the village of Tambolic, in the district of Jamalca, province of Utcubamba, writes Peruvian Times.
Olivera said that most of the drawings show hunting scenes and were painted using red, brown, yellow and black pigments. The discovery adds more details to Peru’s ancient history.
Authorities stumble upon pre-Incan cemetery and citadel
Peruvian authorities led by a tourist guide stumbled upon a pre-Incan cemetery and citadel.
At the site, archaeologists have uncovered ceramics, human remains, stone-carved axes and other tools After analyzing the discoveries, experts conclude that the site is a pre-Incan cemetery.
In the same time, more excavations unearthed clues of circular stone homes located at the top of a mountain, which may have been used for military purposes. Archaeologists suggest that it might be a pre-Incan citadel. The citadel would have dominated the surroundings, thus being a key observation point.
Other important artifacts as petroglyphs, ceramics and cave paintings have been discovered in the same region of the Pachallama Mountain. Additional cave paintings found in the Toquepala caves in western Andes depict scenes of hunting guanacos, an animal found only in South America.
March 24th, 2009 at 3:32 pm
Did anyone read this article prior to putting a title on it ? Or is this just another example of media inability to accuratly portray the truth ? There are 10,000 cave paintings 6,000 years old.
March 24th, 2009 at 4:54 pm
Thank you for that and sorry for the mistake, but it happens sometimes.
March 25th, 2009 at 10:36 am
Please follow up on this story. This could be awesome in its implications - 4000 BC or earlier is incredible for the western hemisphere. Please check if anyone is doing accelerator mass spectrometry on the carbon (only fifty particle of dust required which is way less than the normal 50 grains)…
Fantastic work!
March 26th, 2009 at 6:43 am
This is an exciting find. As an artist, it is very interesting to see, and as a student of the ancient mound cultures here in the midwest,Im always interested in the new discoveries that come from the past. These kinds of discoveries are very important, and I hope to hear much more of this..Roger
March 30th, 2009 at 9:21 pm
Photoshopped…
April 15th, 2009 at 3:02 pm
Those paintings are pretty crappy. What’s the big deal? I made those when I was like 5. And what, did they use like 1 color? Lame!
September 27th, 2009 at 1:59 pm
that is awsome