5 July 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

Ancient Murals of Two-faced Figures Found in Peru

Archaeologists are reporting a number of fascinating discoveries as work on the excavations at Pañamarca progresses that are helping to clarify Peru’s ancient history.

Archaeologists discovered ancient murals of two-faced figures clutching unusual treasures—including a goblet from which hummingbirds drink—at Pañamarca, Peru, a 1,400-year-old site.

Construction of Pañamarca, an architectural complex that sits upon a rock outcrop in the Peruvian Ancash region’s lower Nepeña Valley, is estimated to have occurred between 550-800 CE.

Denver Museum of Nature and Science reports that the two intricate murals adorn a singular pillar inside a ceremonial hall of Pañamarca.

One mural near the top of the pillar depicts a two-faced man, with each face looking to the left and right, holding a feather fan in one hand and carrying a goblet from which four hummingbirds drink. Another two-faced man can be seen at the bottom of the pillar. One hand holds a moving feather fan, while the other holds a partially preserved object resembling a stick. The archaeologists say that the artists behind the murals may have been trying to see how movement can be depicted.

Photo: Denver Museum of Nature & Science

The two men wear a crown or headdress, colorful clothing with intricate patterns, and a big belt.

The Archaeological Research Project (PIA) “Paisajes Arqueológicos de Pañamarca” is collaboratively led by the international team of Jessica Ortiz Zevallos, Lisa Trever of Columbia University and Michele Koons of the Denver Museum of Nature & Science (DMNS).

Lisa Trever of Columbia University said: “Pañamarca was a place of remarkable artistic innovation and creativity, with painters elaborating on their knowledge of artistic canons in creative and meaningful ways as the people of Nepeña established their position in the far southern Moche world.”

“Our project has the potential to inaugurate a new period of understanding and appreciation of Moche art, including by contemporary artists who use these ancestral works as inspiration in their own practice,” added Trever.

Photo: Denver Museum of Nature & Science

The mural paintings, along with evidence of highland-style textiles and tropical feathers discovered alongside locally-made ceramics and material culture in the excavations, have been proposed by the team as evidence of multicultural relationships and long-distance economies.

Although Moche burials and other sites have been discovered further south, no Moche structures on the scale of Pañamarca have been discovered beyond Nepea. As a result, the murals in Pañamarca have the potential to reveal much more about the Moche people’s collective identity and aspirations, who lived long before the Inca Empire was established.

Denver Museum of Nature and Science

Related Articles

In Germany, a well-preserved octagonal tower unearthed, which may have been inspired by towers on the city walls of Constantinople

5 September 2023

5 September 2023

During excavations at Neuenburg Castle near the town of Freyburg (Burgenlandkreis) in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt, the extraordinarily well-preserved,...

Viking Family identified using New DNA Technology

9 June 2021

9 June 2021

Researchers were able to confirm the connection between two Viking remains discovered in Denmark and England thanks to new DNA...

New study investigates the development of the Scandinavian gene pool over the latest 2000 years

5 January 2023

5 January 2023

A new study resolves the complex relations between geography, ancestry, and gene flow in Scandinavia – encompassing the Roman Age,...

A burial complex and an Ancient Dog Statue have been unearthed during excavations in Appio Latino quarter the Rome

8 January 2022

8 January 2022

Workers laying pipes for utility company Acea at Via Luigi Tosti in Rome’s Appio Latino quarter have unearthed an ancient...

Human Activity on Curaçao Began Centuries Earlier Than Previously Believed

28 March 2024

28 March 2024

New research co-led by Simon Fraser University and the National Archaeological Anthropological Memory Management (NAAM Foundation) in Curaçao extends the...

The Earliest Evidence of a Domesticated Dog in the Arabian Peninsula

9 April 2021

9 April 2021

Dogs have been the best friend of humans since ancient times. Although it is not known exactly when dogs were...

Archaeologists identified the first known tomb of a Warrior Woman with weapons in Hungary

5 January 2025

5 January 2025

A team of archaeologists led by Balázs Tihanyi of the Department of Biological Anthropology and the Department of Archaeology at...

Excavation in Larissa finds a Hellenistic era sanctuary

27 November 2021

27 November 2021

The Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sport reported on Friday the discovery of ancient Greek and Hellenistic era structures at...

Stone Penis Found in Medieval Spanish ruins Had Violent Purpose

11 June 2023

11 June 2023

Archaeologists found a six-inch stone penis while excavating the Tower of Meira (Torre de Meira) in the city of Ría...

New Discoveries on the İsland of Skokholm

29 March 2021

29 March 2021

New discoveries dating back 9000 years have been found in Skokholm, located in the Celtic Sea two miles off the...

Two Deep Ritual Wells Sealed with 3100-year-old Calcium Carbonate Discovered on Greek Island

6 August 2024

6 August 2024

Aerial photographs of the “Kotroni” Lakithra region, strategically located on the island of Cephalonia, west of the Greek mainland, revealed...

Egyptian mission discovered five ancient water wells in North Sinai

1 March 2022

1 March 2022

A team of Egyptian archeologists working in the Tell El Kedwa discovered five ancient wells which are believed to be...

Celtiberian Inscription Found at La Peña del Castro: One of the Earliest Examples of Alphabetic Writing in Northern Iberia

26 February 2025

26 February 2025

La Ercina, León, Spain – Archaeological research at the La Peña del Castro site has unveiled an important discovery that...

Botanical Findings Analysis from Biblical area of Goliath sheds Unprecedented Light on Philistine Ritual Practices

27 February 2024

27 February 2024

Bar-Ilan University researchers shed “unprecedented light” on Philistine ritual practices, such as the use of psychoactive and medicinal plants, by...

Archaeologists found a noble woman buried beside her ‘husband’ 1,000 years ago with the top of her face hollowed out

4 November 2023

4 November 2023

Archaeologists unearthed the 1,000-year-old remains of a woman with her face and head hollowed out buried next to her husband...