Archaeologists have discovered a throne room and its surroundings in the ancient city of Pañamarca, Peru which could indicate women were ruling more than 1,300 years ago. In total they have uncovered a complex of ritual buildings, which together suggest that Pañamarca was the religious and political powerhouse in ancient Moche times — around 700 to 850 A.D. The favorite feature among various strata of inhabitants seems to be an elaborately decorated hall with snake murals painted on walls, as well as a throne worn thin from centuries or use.
This is a drawing on one of the paintings found in teh newly discovered chamber that depicts the king’s wife seated on her throne surrounded by ritulistic guests. The beasties are a pretty valance—Crown, crescent moon / Sea-creatures—to the warp-weaving women on this loom. Several centuries of wear on the backrest of a 650 CE throne. The throne also hosts a human hair and some colorful stones, that archaeologists have found. The hair will undergo DNA analysis, but researchers with the Pañamarca archaeological research program were not sure there was enough to give definitive results.
Another chamber, called the Hall of the Braided Serpent, is far more open with broad columns that looked out onto a plaza. Here, paintings of human-legged giant snakes and other warriors accompany the image to your left, as well one mythic beast. This is unique iconography and different from all other Moche art known till today which broadens our knowledge of their culture.
The find only strengthens the idea that Moche society was not exclusively controlled by men, and similar conclusions have been drawn from other discoveries made in the region. Such finds are critical in interpreting Moche life, as the culture had no true writing system and most of its sites have been heavily looted.
More surprises are also expected from future excavations, since the main pyramid of the site still has not been investigated.
Feature Image: A figure painted on a pillar at Pañamarca, Peru, where archaeologists have uncovered evidence of a female ruler.Courtesy: Lisa Trever/Archaeological Landscapes of Pañamarca
