Workers uncover eight mummies and pre-Inca objects while expanding the gas network in Peru

By FRANKLIN BRICEÑO
Associated Press

LIMA, Peru (AP) — Some archaeologists describe Peru’s capital as an onion with many layers of history, others consider it a box of surprises. That’s what some gas line workers got when their digging uncovered eight pre-Inca funeral bales. Gas company archaelogist Jesus Bahamonde said Friday that excavation work to expand the system of gas lines over the last 19 years has produced more than 1,900 archaeological finds of various kinds, including mummies, pottery and textiles. The number of relics isn’t surprising. The area that is now Lima has been occupied for more than 10,000 years by various cultures. In Bahamonde’s words:  “We are recovering those leaves of the lost history of Lima that is just hidden under the tracks and streets.”