'Pre-Inca' temple found in Peru

[emad]

Archaeologists in Peru have discovered ancient temple ruins that could predate the Inca empire.

The temple on the periphery of the Sacsayhuaman fortress includes 11 rooms thought to have held mummies and idols.

The discovery at the famous spot overlooking the Incan capital of Cuzco includes ancient roadway and irrigation systems, said the team of experts.

Researchers are still waiting for carbon dating tests to verify the age of the ruins.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7295754.stm

[xchrom]

1. very cool. nt

[DFW]

2. In Ecuador, this would have been old news

Ecuador is an extremely poor country, and so doesn't have the means
to do anywhere near the excavations they should be doing, much less
publicizing the ones they are doing. Even so, government officials I
know there took me on a private tour of their own national cultural
museum, and when I mentioned the Incas, they laughed and said, yes,
there is stuff from the Incas, but that's the newer stuff (!!).

They showed me artifacts from peoples that pre-dated the Incas by about
3000 years. If these governments were ever to have the means to do proper
archaeological explorations in their own territory, and improve their
economies to the point where objects of value would be handed over to
museums instead of being stolen and sold on the black market, their national
museums alone would be among the top cultural and tourist attractions in
South America, maybe the world. The government in Quito was desperately
trying to find out how to raise and spend $25 million to build a new national
cultural museum without causing a riot among the dirt-poor population.
They still haven't managed. Even with the shabby building that now houses
their collection of historical artifacts, it will make your jaw drop just
to see what is there, and why the Incas were, for Ecuador, anyway, the new
kids on the block.

[sinkingfeeling]

3. The way Ecuador treats their international visitors has a lot to do with why Peru is

raking in dollars from tourism. We were basically held captive in the Quito airport for 6 hours. They took all of our boarding passes (including the the ones we'd already used) and our passports. Peru has many artifacts from pre-Inca cultures like the Nazca.

[DFW]

5. When was that?

I got nothing but the most cordial treatment when I was there.

[sinkingfeeling]

6. Last October, think the 28th.

[DFW]

7. Ah, that puts things in perspective

I haven't been back since the new government took over,
and have no idea if the border guards have been given new
instructions on how to handle travelers. I was last there
before the Correa government took over, and they might have
a new set of rules. When I was there, anyway, I was treated
most cordially. I speak fluent Spanish, which might have helped,
but I didn't get the impression that other travelers were being
treated worse than I was.

[Richard D]

4. The Incan empire . . .

started in the 15th Century. Hardly old news. Some of the ruins in Northern Peru are of civilizations that predate Sumerian culture and may have been the first City/States in history.