Ancient priest's remains are a first-of-a-kind find for Peru team

[Still Waters]

A group of Japanese and Peruvian archaeologists have discovered the 3,000-year-old tomb of a priest alongside ceramic offerings in northern Peru.

"We have recently discovered the tomb of a 3,000-year-old figure at the Pacopampa archaeological site," in the Cajamarca region, 900 kilometers (560 miles) north of Lima, archaeologist Juan Pablo Villanueva told AFP on Saturday.

"He is one of the first priests in the Andes to have a series of offerings," the researcher said, adding that "the funerary context is intact."

https://phys.org/news/2023-08-ancient-priest-first-of-a-kind-peru-team.html

[Still Waters]

From a different source link.

Quote

The team called the individual a "priest" in the statement, but this person may have been "more of a shaman-like figure who manipulated the powers of jaguars, snakes, and birds of prey like a shaman," Seki said. People may have turned to the shaman for answers or for help healing, and the shaman may have used his believed connection to the spiritual world to assist them.

Archaeologists not involved in the finding called it an interesting discovery but cautioned that it's too early to call this individual a priest.

https://www.livescience.com/archaeology/3000-year-old-tomb-of-shaman-who-may-have-mediated-between-spiritual-and-earthly-worlds-found-in-peru