At least 800 year-old mummy found in Peru

Archaeologists in Peru have unearthed a well-preserved mummy that could be at least 800 years old.

It was inside an underground tomb found on the outskirts of the capital, Lima, surrounded by offerings including pots, ceramics, gourds containing vegetable remains and stone tools.

The pre-Incan mummy was in a fetal position and tied with ropes, which was probably a local burial rite.

This was archaeologist Pieter Van Dalen Luna on Friday (November 26).

"It's the mummy of an inhabitant of the high Andean region, it was buried approximately between 800 or 1200 AD. Radiocarbon dating will give us a more accurate chronology. It apparently belongs to the Chaclla culture, a culture that developed in the mountains of Lima, in the province of Huariochiri in the late intermediate period."

Peru is home to hundreds of archaeological sites from cultures that developed before and after the Inca Empire, which dominated the southern part of South America 500 years ago.