Across the dry coastal landscape of northern Peru, ancient ceremonial centres still emerge from the sand with surprising regularity. Some reveal traces of ordinary lives. Others open a window onto people who appear to have occupied a very different place in society. One burial uncovered at El Brujo, a large archaeological complex near the modern city of Trujillo, belonged firmly to the second category.
The woman had been dead for roughly 15 centuries. Yet parts of her skin remained preserved, allowing details rarely seen in ancient South American burials to survive. Fine tattoos stretched across her arms. Jewellery lay beside her. Weapons rested among funeral offerings. Nearby were the remains of a sacrificed teenager. Taken together, the objects raised questions that archaeologists had not expected to ask when the excavation began.
