Archaeologists discovered this tattoo-ed mummy with semi-precious gemstone and gold jewelry from the pre-Columbian Moche civilization in Peru.
Accompanied by unusual burial items, such as weapons of war and the skeleton of a child with a noose around its neck, the mummy, a woman approximately 30 years old when she died, was discovered last year by a group of Peruvian and U.S. archaeologists at the ancient site of El Brujo (The Wizard) on the coast of northern Peru, near Trujillo.
Her body was wrapped in hundreds of meters (yards) of cotton cloth, and near where it was found lay the skeleton of a youth offered in sacrifice with a rope still around its neck.
Jewelry made of semi-precious gemstones and fine gold was also found at the site, as were other objects like gold sewing needles and raw cotton.
The archaeologists were surprised to find buried with the mummy two ceremonial war clubs and 23 spear throwing implements, normally found only in the graves of Moche men.
"Perhaps she was a female warrior, or maybe the war clubs and spear throwers were symbols of power that were funeral gifts from men," said John Verano, a physical anthropologist from Tulane University in the United States.