TRUJILLO, PERU—Andina News Agency reports that the 1,400-year-old grave of an infant has been uncovered at the foot of Huaca de la Luna, a temple at Huacas de Moche on the coast of northern Peru. Carlos Rengifo of the Huacas de Moche Archaeological Project said that other tombs excavated on the Uhle funerary platform contained the remains of adults thought to have attained elevated status. The elite child’s tomb contained more than 30 ceramic objects, including vessels depicting bird-shaped figures, prisoners, scenes of sacrifice, combat, and deities. One unusual vessel shows a body of water separated from the sea with a strip of sand. Birds, fish, and two frogs, which are associated with fertility and the presence of water, were depicted on the bottle as well. “These animals in an area meant that there was a lot of moisture or that the rains were coming,” said archaeologist Enrique Zavaleta. “We have also recently found that the area around the child’s skull was covered with a kind of metal mask, which we believe could be copper and may have had decorations as well,” Rengifo said. “There is another metal element toward the side of the foot bones,” he added. For more on the Moche, go to “Painted Worlds.”
