Recycled waste tires are used to recreate Moray, a site of Inca ruins in Peru, at the International Potato Center garden. Photo: Li Hao/GT

Peruvian workers laying gas pipes found the remains of eight people buried in a common tomb with food and musical instruments some 800 years ago, an archaeologist said Wednesday. 

The bodies of adults and children had been wrapped in plant material, with corn, dishes and a variety of wind instruments, including flutes, placed around them, Cecilia Camargo, an archaeologist hired by the Calidda gas company whose workers made the discovery, told AFP. 

The eight had lived in the ancient town of Chilca some 60 kilometers south of Lima. Some had been buried with shells on their heads, and had bags in which coca leaves, traditionally chewed as a stimulant, are kept. 

"It is an important find that gives us more information about the pre-Hispanic history of Chilca," said the researcher.   

Remains of 227 children, sacrificed in an "uncontrollable" wave of killings designed to appease ancient gods, were also once discovered in Peru in 2019. The site was believed to be the biggest single such discovery anywhere in the world.  

They were killed by the Chimu people, whose culture dominated the northern coast of Peru between the 13th and 15th centuries before the arrival of the Inca.

AFP