4,000-Year-Old Temple Unearthed in Western Peru

LIMA, PERU—ABC News Australia reports that a U-shaped temple has been uncovered in western Peru’s lower Chancay River Valley, at the Miraflores archaeological site. A cross-shaped symbol known as a chacana has been found carved into a frieze in the temple, which has been dated to 4,000 years ago. “This chacana or southern cross is the oldest complete representation that has been found in the Andes,” said archaeologist Pieter Van Dalen of the National University of San Marcos. The newly found symbol suggests that the chacana may have been in continuous use into the Inca period, Van Dalen concluded. To read about a vast city built a millennium ago by the Chimú people, go to "Peru's Great Urban Experiment."