Hispanic carving heads found in Peru – History Blog

Two rare carving heads were found in the ruins of the Hispanic former Sesame Island culture structure in the Amazon region of Peru. Carving heads related to the Chachapoya culture are known to exist, but this is the first time they were discovered in the context of primitive archaeology.

The head is made of sandstone, which we find inside the debris of the peripheral wall of the circular structure. Depending on where they were found, the engravings were initially installed on the outside of the structural wall. Chachapoya structures usually have decorative walls, although decorative usually involves geometric trim rather than installed heads.

The discovery is part of the Xalca Grande Archaeological Research Project, a comprehensive remote mapping program for the Ollape archaeological site. Researchers are using drone and lidar technology to generate high-precision maps of the website on challenging mountains. The team has identified more than 200 previously unknown pre-Hispanic structures of the Chachapoyas civilization, revealing the wide geographical scope and complexity of the Chachapoyas settlement.

Archaeologists from the Kuelap Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology and the Xalca Grande Archaeology Project followed up with remote data and studied local structures. In addition to the carved head, archaeologists have documented another unique discovery: a zigzag pattern on one of the wall geometric trims.

The Ollape archaeological website contains the chachapoyas settlement, dating back to 900-1470 AD and explored structures. The purpose of archaeologists is to better understand Ollape’s daily life, the work they do, how they interact with the environment, rituals, their rituals, social structures, social hierarchies, and more. Andean bears are among them.