Possible Inca Ritual Bath Discovered in Peru

LIMA, PERU—According to a Reuters report, a bathing complex built by the Inca some 500 years ago has been discovered in central Peru’s Huanuco Pampa archaeological zone, which is situated along a 15,000-mile-long network of roads that connected Ecuador, Colombia, Peru, Bolivia, and Argentina. The structure, which was found near the so-called “House of the Inca,” features a finely carved, six-foot-deep bath with additional pools and spillways. Water travels along a central passage to a drainage duct dividing the room into two small platforms, or benches. Archaeologist Luis Paredes Sanchez suggests that the bath may have served a ritual purpose for the Inca elite. For more on the archaeology of the Inca, go to "An Overlooked Inca Wonder."