According to the “Archaeology” magazine – one of the ten most important discoveries of 2013. National Geographic’s cover story (June 2014) in over 20 languages all over the world. National Geographic Traveler 2013 award in the ’Discovery of the year’ category. This is El Castillo de Huarmey on the Northern coast of Peru, discovered by Polish archaelogists after years of hard work. The tomb contained burial sites of female aristocracy belonging to the pre-Inca Wari culture.
Until now, information about the pre-Inca culture was scarce. All other known remnants of burial places of Wari elites were plundered a long time ago, or severly damaged by time and weather. Polish archeologists Miłosz Giersz and Patrycja Prządka-Giersz, in co-operation with Peruvian colleagues, were the first to discover the undisturbed burial chamber of the royal tomb of the pre-Inca Wari culture.
The exhibition presents 150 objects, including the treasures discovered by the Polish-Peruvian team in El Castillo de Huarmey. There are items such as richly ornamented jewellery, fabrics symbolizing wealth and power, and ceramics: dozens of vessels from different regions, often thousands of kilometres distant. Moreover, visitors will also see items made from exotic materials, such as obsidian, or holy mullu shells from Ecuador’s warm seas, and gold and silver. A scientific reconstruction of the appearance of the highest level aristocrat woman, the so-called “queen,” buried in the tomb with unique gifts was an important part of the exhibition.
An eminent Polish architect, Przemo Łukasik, designed the exhibition in an unusual way, presenting the objects against the sandy background of the Peruvian plateau and the interior of a pyramid constructed from square blocks. Multimedia allowed us to recreate the discovered tomb’s appearance, and VR technology transported visitors right there, as well as allowed them to see, for example, the inner side of a large, decorated urn.
The exhibition in the National Ethnographic Museum in Warsaw was the first European presentation of the Polish archaeologists’ achievements. Until now, the exhibition was fully presented only in Lima.
The exhibition took place from 20.12.2017 to 20.05.2018.
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Producers: The National Ethnographic Museum in Warsaw and Polish Latin American Studies Association.
EL CASTILLO DE HUARMEY. The treasures of pre-Columbian Peru. An exhibition promoting a Polish breakthrough archaeological discovery of the royal tomb from the time of the Wari Empire. The project was carried out as a part of the 956/P-DUN/2017 agreement and funded by the Ministry of Education and Academics from the budget for promoting education.
The third dimension of archaeology. Digital humanities in Polish research of pre-Columbian cultures. The project was carried out as a part of the 956/P-DUN/2017 agreement and funded by the Ministry of Education and Academics from the budget for promoting education.
Subsidized by the Office of the Marshal of the Mazowieckie Voivodeship.
