Oldest mural found in Americas: 13-11-2007
The oldest mural ever to be found in the Americas has been discovered inside a 4,000-year-old temple in Peru's Lambayeque valley.
Peruvian archaeologist and director of the Royal Tombs of Sipan Museum, Walter Alva made the discovery at the site of Ventarron, 12 miles from Sipan, where the ancient Moche people lived until around AD 700.
The Ventarron wall painting of a deer trapped in a net was discovered by an altar at the end of a secret staircase along with another painting in red and white.
Dr Alva told National Geographic News that they the stairway was notable due to an unusual structure not endemic to the area.
"These construction characteristics have not been seen before in northern Peru," he said.
"Though the construction materials were very primitive, the mural and structures themselves are surprisingly sophisticated and artistically elaborate."
Dr Alva believes that the temple was built by earlier settlements than the Cupisniques, the Chavinoides, the Chavins and even the Moches.
Also found at the site were skeletons of a parrot and a monkey and Ecuadorian shells, suggesting that the Lambayeque valley was a cultural exchange point between Peru's Pacific coast and other regions, National Geographic reports.