Sun 16 Apr 2023:
A bathing complex thought to have been used by the elite of the expansive empire that once ruled vast swaths of South America has been found by archaeologists in the Peruvian Andes.
Local researchers think the spa may have had a religious function for important Inca officials. The Inca empire, which once stretched from southern Ecuador to the middle of Chile, is thought to have existed 500 years ago. It was discovered next to the “House of the Inca” in the Huanuco Pampa archaeological zone in central Peru.
Luis Paredes Sanchez, project manager at Huanuco Pampa, said the structure was similar to “more hierarchical, restricted and sacred spaces within the Inca administrative centers, because rather than having a utilitarian or hygienic function, they also served for religious functions and worshiping ancestors.”
According to a statement from Peru’s culture ministry, the “finely carved” bath has two independent pools, spillways, and a central passageway that directs water into a drainage duct that splits the space into two little platforms, or “benches” for the Inca.
The Huanuco Pampa archaeological site is part of the Qhapaq Nan project, a complex 25,000-kilometer-long road network that linked Ecuador, Colombia, Peru, Bolivia and Argentina. The road system was declared a World Heritage Site in 2014.
Numerous ancient sites may be found all over Peru, notably the citadel of Machu Picchu in the Inca capital of Cusco and the enormous Nasca lines, which were drew in the coastal desert region of Ica more than 1,500 years ago.
SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES
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