A team of archaeologists and conservators has uncovered a spectacular “throne room” in Peru that appears to have been occupied by a powerful female leader.
The pillared room was revealed this summer at the site of Pañamarca in the Nepeña Valley on the country’s northern coast, the “Archaeological Landscapes of Pañamarca” research project announced.
Pañamarca is the southernmost monumental center of the Moche culture, a pre-Hispanic society that inhabited the coastal valleys of northern Peru between around A.D. 350 and A.D. 850. This society is renowned for its rich elite tombs, striking architecture and artwork.
Built atop a granite hill in the lower Nepeña Valley, Pañamarca consists of an imposing stepped adobe platform, two lower adobe platforms, a large walled adobe plaza and several other structures. Adobe is a building material made from earth and organic materials.