Pre-Inca burial site found

A SPECTACULAR burial site of 20 tombs for the pre-Inca nobility of Sican has been found in northern Peru, the archaeological expedition's Japanese leader Izumi Shimada said today.

The discovery, one of the most significant finds in Peru in recent years, should allow for greater understanding of the Sican culture, which spanned from about 750 AD to the end of the 14th century.

Archaeologists found the pyramid-shaped tombs containing a dozen ceremonial knives, ceremonial figures called tumis, made in an alloy of copper silver and gold, breastplates, masks and ceramics, near the town of Ferranafe, about 800 kilometres north of Lima.

The so-called "Lords of Sican" were considered representatives of divine power on Earth.

That's the whole thing.

UPDATE: more here.