A mural thought to be 3,800 years old has been revealed by archaeologists in Peru. The wall was found inside a public ceremonial building at the Vichama site, north of Lima. The complex carved scene depicts iconography including a human-like toad and representations of people.
     Dr Ruth Shady Solís, director of the Caral Archaeological Zone (ZAC), believes the scene represents the 'arrival of water' through rainfall. She says that in Andean civilisation, toads represented water and says the face below it represents humans waiting for rainfall to give continuity of life. Another depiction found nearby shows four human heads with snakes encircling them and what appears to be a seed with a face.
     Tatiana Abad, another archaeologist at the site, said the sculptures would probably have been produced in a period of scarcity and famine.
     Excavation started at the Vichama site in 2007 and experts believe it was an ancient agricultural and fishing community. Archaeologists consider it one of the most important population centres from the Caral civilisation, also known as Norte Chico, thought to date back 5,000 years. The civilisation is thought to have mysteriously declined in about 1800 BCE - and Dr Shady said on Monday that the new Vichama murals, representing changes to the local climate, may point to why.
     
Edited from BBC News (20 August 2019)