An archaeological site has yielded further evidence that a matriarch once commanded the ancient Moche civilization on Peru's northwest coast.

The pillared room unearthed at the Panamarca archaeological site contains a worn stone throne and elaborate wall murals portraying a powerful woman with a crown receiving visitors. The figure is further interlaced with a crescent moon and sea creatures. 

Dating back more than 1,300 years, the discovery might indicate that a woman who was "possibly a ruler" dwelled in the space, said Jessica Ortiz Zevallos, research director for the archaeological project.

"A throne room for a queen has never been seen before at Panamarca, nor anywhere else in ancient Peru," said a September statement from the site team announcing the find, which was made in July.

Panamarca is the southernmost center of Moche society, which made their homes in the coastal valleys of northern Peru between about 350 and 850 CE.

A matriarchal society?

The discovery echoes the Lady of Cao, a woman who is said to have governed Moche 1,700 years ago. Her face was reconstructed in 2017 using 3D printing based on the skull of an ancient mummy discovered over a decade before in the Chicama Valley, described as the heartland of Moche culture.

The Lady of Cao was described by archaeologists as the first-known female governor in Peru.

This latest discovery adds to growing evidence that women held positions of authority in Moche society, not only due to the mural depictions of a queen-like figure but also the presence of human hair and wear on the stone throne.

"Panamarca continues to surprise us," said Lisa Trever, professor of art history at Columbia University. "Not only for the ceaseless creativity of its painters but also because their works are overturning our expectations of gender roles in the ancient Moche world."

Detailed murals offer new cultural insights

The Panamarca site, where the throne room was discovered in July, is known for its colorful murals.

An adjacent room overlooking a square has been dubbed the Chamber of the Braided Serpents due to a mural of a figure with legs intertwined with snakes. Numerous other murals in the room portray warriors and a monster chasing a man.

"Everything is painted and finely decorated with mythological scenes and characters," archaeologist Jose Ochatoma told Reuters of the room that he compared to the Vatican's Sistine Chapel with its biblical frescoes painted by Italian artist Michelangelo.

The wall paintings "captured scenes belonging to the Moche ideology," said Ochatoma, and are a rare insight into culture in the coastal region before the Spanish conquest of South America.

"We are discovering an iconography that has not been seen before in the pre-Hispanic world," Ochatoma said.

After the decline of the Moche civilization, the Inca empire later rose up in the highlands in the same region.

The mural paintings of Panamarca are not currently accessible to tourists due to their fragility.

"We cover the excavations to ensure the long-term conservation of this important cultural heritage," said Ochatoma.

Edited by: Davis VanOpdorp