Lambayeque Gold Mask and Gloves

Within the coastal desert of north-central Peru, a series of river valleys flow down from the towering Andes into the sea. In recent decades, archeological excavations in this region have begun to uncover the remains of some of the earliest ancient cities within the Americas. Dozens of step-pyramid complexes have already been unearthed across numerous sites, while many more still hold their secrets buried beneath the sands. Remarkably, the construction of some of these have now been shown to ...

Peru’s Cerro Sechín is the creepiest place I’ve been. The outer walls of this three-thousand-year-old temple are covered in relief carvings of dismembered bodies, likely depicting human sacrifice. What was their worldview that gave rise to this practice?

The Inca's precise stonework is often depicted as shrouded in mystery. Yet their construction methods were documented by early Spanish chroniclers. These historical records, supported by physical evidence, reveal how the Inca quarried, transported, split, shaped, fitted, and dressed their stones.