Archaeologists in Peru uncovered a polychrome mural with three-dimensional relief at the Huaca Yolanda site in La Libertad. The wall painting dated to more than 3,000 years ago, retained vivid blue, yellow, red, and black pigments, and measured nearly six meters long and 2.9 meters high, according to Detik. The find was described as unprecedented for its 3D design and symbolic iconography.
The excavation, led by Ana Cecilia Mauricio, an archaeologist at the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru, began in early July and revealed an intact mural buried under stones and sand. “The images, decorative techniques, and the exceptional state of preservation made this a truly unique discovery in the region,” said Mauricio, according to Dagbladet. “The feeling at that moment was indescribable... for an archaeologist, this is something fabulous that perhaps happens only once in a lifetime,” said Mauricio.
The mural originated in the Formative Period, roughly 2000-1000 BCE, and was produced by a pre-Columbian culture that emerged along the northern coast. It is considered unparalleled in Peruvian archaeology for its artistry, and its colors and bas-relief details remained clear after more than three millennia.
Imagery on the wall included anthropomorphic forms, stars, sea plants, figures resembling fish, and mythological creatures. A central element featured a large fish with relief friezes and a massive bird with outstretched wings enclosed by diamond motifs, possibly an eagle or hawk. Other sections showed what appeared to be fishing nets, including a fish whose body took the form of a three-dimensional net.
Researchers said the site was a ceremonial complex extending over 20 hectares and likely inhabited at the same time as Chavín de Huántar, an Andean ritual center before the rise of the Inca Empire. They noted that Huaca Yolanda reflected a coastal artistic tradition of fish and nets, while Chavín murals depicted jaguars and predatory reptiles, and the highland society developed techniques in agriculture, metallurgy, and textile production.
“Current evidence suggests that the mural adorned the interior spaces within the main atrium of a temple dating to the Formative Period,” said Mauricio, adding that the atrium served as a center of spiritual power. Researchers identified plants, stars, and human-like figures in the northern part of the mural that seemed to represent shamans, who were at the top of the social hierarchy during the Formative Period.
Written with the help of a news-analysis system.