News - Ancient female leader’s throne room discovered in South America

Archaeologists working at the Moche site of  Panamarca in the Nepena Valley of north-coastal Peru discovered a pillared throne room with imagery and evidence that a high-status female leader used it, reports Arkeonews. The hall, which is surrounded by walls and pillars, is decorated with four distinct scenes that show a strong woman either sitting on her throne or welcoming guests in procession. Between 350 and 850 C.E., a society known as the Moche thrived in the coastal valleys of northern  Peru. This culture is famous for its elite tombs, impressive architecture, detailed artistic representations, complex artifacts, and rich religious imagery. Other paintings found in the hall include a figure with a human body but spider legs carrying a goblet and a whole workshop of women spinning and weaving. “Experts will debate whether the woman painted on the walls of the throne room is human or mythical (a priestess, goddess, or queen),” researchers say. “But the physical evidence of the throne, including the erosion to its back support and the recovery of greenstone beads, fine threads, and even human hair, make clear that it was occupied by a real living person—and the evidence all points to a seventh-century woman leader of Pañamarca.”