3,800-year-old ritual deposit of figurines found in Peru

A group of 43 figurines deposited as a ritual offering 3,800 years ago have been discovered in Peñico in the Caral Archaeological Zone on the Pacific coast of Peru. The discovery sheds new light on the ceremonial practices and cultural continuity of the people who inhabited the cities of the first urban civilization of the Americas after the demise of the Caral Civilization.

The 43 pieces were carved from wood and bone and include representations of mythological figures, anthropomorphic figures, among them one female and what may be deities, geometric and abstract shapes, zoomorphic figures like birds, snakes, and tadpoles. Some of the figures show evidence of exposure to fire, which archaeologists believe may have been part of the ritual. Beads of Chrysocolla (a blue stone) and different types of shells were found in the grouping. They were likely intended to be inlaid on the carved figures.

Archaeologists found the objects in an excavation of the Major Public Building of Peñico. They had been placed together in a small area bordered with a semicircle of pebbles. It was filled with soil and covered with a capstone. This deposit was associated the construction of a new platform of the building.

The urban center of Peñico was founded around 1800 BCE, with an archaeological occupation area of ​​19.44 hectares, in a period following the decline of the earliest and most prestigious urban centers of the Caral Civilization, including the Sacred City of Caral-Supe, located 12.93 km away. Far from representing a cultural break, research indicates that this city, where 15 public buildings were found, was conceived as a space for integration between the coast and the highlands. It even received goods from the rainforest and preserved and transformed knowledge, ritual practices, and forms of organization inherited from the Caral tradition, which had flourished centuries earlier in the same valley.

The recent discovery provides evidence of this historical continuity. Specialists have identified similarities in the materials used, the incision techniques, and the iconographic patterns present in the recovered pieces. Furthermore, archaeological analyses indicate that the offering was deposited during the initial stages of construction of the Main Public Building, as part of ceremonies related to the consecration of architecturally significant spaces.

The offerings were discovered in December 2025 and have been undergoing cleaning and conservation ever since. Conservation has been completed on 32 of the objects which have now gone on display at the office of the Culture Ministry in Lima.

* This article was originally published here