In northern Peru, archaeologists unearth hundreds of sarcophagi clinging to the side of the cliff, the only traces of a mysterious people who have now disappeared:the Chachapoyas. Our reporter followed them to the heart of the Andes.
The discovery of the Lagoon of the Condors and its Chachapoyas mummies, constituted at the end of the 1990s, one of the greatest archaeological discoveries in Peru.
Above the clouds . Following in the footsteps of the enigmatic Chachapoyas people in the Andes means climbing impressive mountains in the middle of emerald forest settings. It is indeed in the hollow of cliffs bathed in fluffy clouds, often at an altitude of more than 3000m, that this little-known people entrusted their dead between the 8th and 15th centuries. Funeral treatments quite unique and unique in America. Mummified bodies were placed in clay sarcophagi or chullpas , stone structures erected on the side of the walls. These hanging cemeteries are today studied in the heart of the ancient territory occupied by these populations, in the current province of Amazonas, 1200 kilometers north of Lima, before they were eclipsed by the Inca conquests. then Spanish. Still unknown five years ago, these new chachapoya necropolises are undoubtedly still numerous to discover in these hard-to-reach regions.
Below are some photos taken during a recent report by Bernadette Arnaud of Sciences et Avenir in the company of Peruvian archaeologists. Article to be found in our magazine n°841 of March 2017, currently on newsstands. Discover how these "cloud warriors" embalmed their dead, extracted their organs, or wrapped the remains in large woven cotton canvases, sometimes adorned with faces.
IN IMAGES, IN PICTURES. The Mummy Cliffs of Peru
