Peruvians unearth 600-year-old Chimú funerary platform

Peruvian archaeologists working near Trujillo discovered a 600-year-old funerary platform within the Chimú Kingdom’s capital city of Chan Chan. The platform held the remains of 38 individuals along with jewellery, weapons, and textiles. This is the first elite Chimú burial site found at Chan Chan that has not been looted since Spanish colonial times.

The Chimú people were a major pre-Hispanic culture in Peru, and Chan Chan, their capital, is the largest adobe city in the Americas.

Funerary rituals played a key role in Chimú society, and archaeologists have previously found nine elite funerary platforms within the city, though all had been disturbed by looters. This new discovery includes a central chamber accessed by a staircase, and two lateral chambers. Researchers believe the people buried within the platform were members of the Chimú elite, based on the status objects found with them.

One individual was buried fully extended, an unusual position for Chimú burials that may indicate a difference in rank or a ritual sacrifice. The presence of red pigment, likely cinnabar, on skulls and pottery links the site to important Chimú traditions and elite contexts. The find may also shed light on the relationship between the Chimú and the later Inca occupation of Chan Chan.

Archaeologists plan to continue excavations through 2027, and are currently analysing the human remains and objects to learn more about the Chimú people’s lives, diets, and connections.