Archaeologists working in the high-altitude Huaylas Valley of Peru have uncovered a ceremonial temple belonging to a pre-Chavin culture, dubbed the Temple of the Cinnabar Priest. The site is named for the thick layer of red cinnabar pigment covering the central sacrificial hearth and the primary ritual platform. Within a side chamber, the team found a cache of Jaguar-bone flutes and polished slate mirrors, suggesting a complex shamanic ritual practice involving sound and light.
The temple architecture consists of a sunken circular plaza connected to a rectangular hall by a series of narrow, sound-amplifying tunnels. Preliminary carbon dating places the construction around 1500 BCE, making it one of the oldest high-altitude religious sites in the region. Plans are underway to build a protective canopy over the fragile pigment-covered surfaces before the rainy season begins.