Peru

Feb. 15 -- A U.S.-led team ofarcheologists announced Thursday it had uncovered threetreasure-filled tombs of the ancient Moche culture in northernPeru, shedding new light on the civilization that vanished about700 years before the Inca people reached their peak.

The tombs were found in a 105-foot-high pyramid onthe Peruvian coast, south of a site known as Sipan where royaltombs were uncovered in the late 1980s.

“What makes these new tombs so special is that we have neverseen the quality and quantity of ceramics, textiles andmetalwork,” said lead archeologist Christopher Donnan of theUniversity of California in Los Angeles.

Graves of Desert Farmers

“I think these are very important tombs and are among therichest that have ever been found, second only to the royal tombsfound in the late 1980s at Sipan in Peru,” added Donnan in atelephone interview.

The tombs’ discovery is the result of a three-year excavationby Donnan and his team, who were supported by the NationalGeographic Society.

The Moche were farmers whose civilization flourished in thedesert plain between the Andes and the Pacific from A.D. 100 to800. They diverted rivers into a network of irrigation canals,growing corn, beans, chili peppers, potatoes and squash.

The Moche laid their noblest dead in huge monuments they builtwith sun-dried bricks. Gold, silver and copper objects decoratedwith scenes of hunting, fishing, combat, punishment, sexualencounters and elaborate ceremonies were buried along with them.

Less than 15 of the 350 Moche burials ever discoveredcontained gold or silver and Donnan said all three of the latesthad both with the second tomb containing large amounts.

The new site is known as Dos Cabezas (two heads) and is thefirst big settlement discovered from the Moche I period, theearliest in the Moche culture, Donnan said.

In addition to the ornate ceramics and other treasures, Donnansaid each of the three tombs contained the three tallest people hebelieved had been excavated in South America.