Newly Found Peruvian Pyramids Belong to a Mysterious Civilization

The history of Peru involves more than the Inca civilization. Pyramid remains have been found at Piura (on the northern Peruvian coast), by construction crews, in January. Now, a team from the Peruvian National Institute of Culture (INC) has announced that the site, 2 mi (3.2 km) long and 1 mi (1.6 km) wide, belonged to the ancient Vicús, a pre-Hispanic civilization that inhabited that coastal desert from 200 B.C to 300 A.D. As Vicus sites have been heavily looted along the time, very few artifacts were left for the scientists to investigate.

"We found several partial pyramids, at least ten. We also found a large adobe platform that we speculate could have been used for burial rituals," said César Santos Sánchez, chief archaeologist for INC's Piura division.

The adobe platform was 82 ft (25 m) by 98 ft (30 m). One pyramid contained artifacts and bone pieces from a human skull, located several meters deep, pointing that the individual could have been of high social status.

"The complex is surrounded by four large hills: Pilán, Vicús, Chanchape, and Tongo. We think that because of its geographic location the complex could have been a place of strategic value," said Santos.

The same area is surrounded by a looted cemetery.

"But the complex itself is intact," said Santos.

"The Vicús are very interesting but so poorly understood, given that most of what we know about them is through looted ceramic art. This could be an important find, because it is one of the few with monumental architecture," said Steve Bourget, an archaeologist at the University of Texas at Austin.

Vicús ceramics resembled the Moche type, pointing to a relationship between the two cultures. The Moche civilization dominated areas south of the Vicús between 100 to 750 A.D., developing complex painted pottery, gold ornaments, irrigation systems, and monuments. But the Vicus and Moche inhabited very close areas, less than the distance between Los Angeles and San Francisco.

"It is possible that the Vicús for part of its history was closely affiliated with the Moche culture. The discovery of the Vicús pyramids comes as perceptions about the Moche have shifted. It was once thought that Moche was a single monolithic state, but people don't think that is true anymore. It was likely a series of regional or multi-valley kingdoms that shared a broader culture. And Vicús was probably part of that sphere of interaction," said Joanne Pillsbury, an archaeologist at the Washington D.C.-based Dumbarton Oaks.

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