In the hillsides of Lima's northern district of Los Olivos (Peru), a team of researchers, led by archaeologist Luis Angel Flores Blanco, uncovered skeletal remains bundled up in a funerary blanket, that date back more than 6,000 years.
     The archaeologist explained that research began in April this year with the help of the city of Los Olivos, volunteers and archeology students. Ruth Shady, discoverer of Caral, the oldest civilization in America, inaugurated the project and presented the excavation plan at a public event.
     So far, preliminary excavations have revealed the presence of two buildings (terraced pyramids) which would be the most important in the valley and would make the hill called Cerro Pacifico the epicenter of this ancient civilization.
     The mayor of Los Olivos, Pedro del Rosario, said the municipality will start the necessary procedures with the Ministry of Culture to declare the Cerro Pacifico a site of Cultural Heritage for the Nation. He also asked for the government's support to continue the excavations and subsequent investigation of the site.
     The samples were sent to private museums in the United States and Japan for carbon-14 testing.

Edited from Living in Peru (8 August 2016)