Peruvian archaeologists find exotic feather headdress in Pampa La Cruz

On the last day of excavations in the archaeological zone of Pampa La Cruz, archaeologist Gabriel Prieto and his research team found the remains of a new Chimu individual buried with luxury clothes —made of exotic bird feathers— over his head and body.

Credit: Andina

Prieto is the head of the Huanchaco Archaeological Project and leads excavations in Pampa La Cruz, an area located in the beachside town of Huanchaco in northern Trujillo province (La Libertad region).

He told Andina news agency that the body was covered by a tabard —similar to what we know nowadays as a poncho— which measures around 1.10 m in length and is made of red and yellow feathers, but whose conservation status is not the desired one.

They also found a very bright and colorful headdress carefully made of blue, white, green, black, and yellow feathers.

Credit: Andina

Credit: Andina

"We need to conduct studies to identify the type of birds from which such feathers were taken and the manufacturing technique, and because we think a black resin —a popular product in the country's rainforest nowadays— was used to secure the threads and ropes of the headdress," he noted.

The researcher explained that the squatting position —in which the skeleton was found— is similar to the one seen in the previous excavation season, when a feather headdress and tabard were found as well.

Nevertheless, he noted that one of the few differences between both findings is that the blue color prevails in the first one, while yellow, red, white, and black stand out in the recent one.