A 4,500 years-old temple was discovered in Lambayeque

The archaeological site discovered by a Peruvian team of archaeologists led by Ignacio Alva in Lambayeque, in 2008, is a structure that could mark the origin of the northern cultures of Peru, such as the Moche culture. The temple was built with mud; it has 20 meters on its side and is part of three sections that together form a pyramid on the Ventarrón hill. It is decorated with designs of fish and fishnets.

On the ground floor that includes the first phase, built 4,500 years ago, the archaeologists found, carved near a fire altar, an image of two fish crossed and looking in opposite directions. This image is similar in size and technique to the “crossed hands”, an image carved in the archaeological site of Kotosh located in the central Andes in Huánuco, which is 4,000 years old. The site is covered by dirt as well as walls that were built on top of older structures for many years.