Stratigraphy of the Pre-Columbian Chancay Funerary Bundle

Abstract

During the excavations conducted on the Cerro Colorado site (Peruvian Central Coast), van Dalen Luna discovered that some 40% of 1,500 burials contained human remains wrapped in funerary bundles (fardos). The study of the associated material, along with radiocarbon dating, revealed that the cemetery was used by the society known today as the Chancay culture (ca. 1000 to 1572 AD). In this article we present the stratigraphy of one of the excavated funerary bundles. Its layout informs about the complexity of the funerary ritual during which it was made, as well as the general Chancay mortuary pattern.