Thousand-year-old mummy discovered by accident by gas workers in Lima

"At the time, we thought it was a girl, but now we know it's a younger boy, between 10 and 15 years old," the researcher told AFP. The body "was in a sitting position, with arms and legs bent, accompanied by gourds and everything tied tightly with string."

Next to the body were nine ceramic objects, such as bowls, plates, bottles and tricolor jugs with geometric figures and human figures of fishermen. "The burial and the objects correspond to a style [of culture] that developed between the years 1000 and 1200," said the archaeologist from Cálidda.

The tomb and artifacts belong to the pre-Inca Chancay culture, which occupied much of Lima's valleys between the 11th and 15th centuries. They were discovered while workers were removing earth from an avenue in the Puente Piedra district in northern Lima.

There was a cemetery in the region that, over time, was covered by layers of earth until it disappeared, according to researchers. Since 2004, when Cálidda began its operations in Lima, the company has recorded more than 2,200 accidental archaeological finds.

In Peru, utility companies must hire archaeologists when they carry out ground drilling work because of the possibility of finding archaeological remains.