Ancient Peruvian Throne Room an Intricate Scene of a Powerful Female

Tim Newcomb
Mon, October 21, 2024 

Ancient Peruvian Throne Room for Female LeaderDEA / G. DAGLI ORTI - Getty Images


Archaeologists found ancient, pillared halls in Peru’s Nepena Valley that include a finely painted throne room depicting a powerful woman.


Remnants of hair in the throne room indicates that the woman could have been a seventh-century leader of Pañamarca.


If that’s true, the discovery of an ancient throne room built for a queen specifically would be the first in the country’s history.

A team of archaeologists working on the Archaeological Landscapes of Pañamarca research project at the Moche site in the Nepena Valley of north coastal Peru recently discovered a throne room filled with imagery and physical evidence that it was used by a high-status female leader. While many the colorful murals of ancient Pañamarca have long been well-known to archaeologists, this is the first time that researchers exploring this place have found evidence of a female ruler.


Some may claim that the decorations within the room show only the celebration of a mythical woman—whether a priestess, goddess, or queen. But according to a statement written by the team, erosion of the back of the stone throne present in the room and discoveries of fine threads, greenstone beads, and human hair all point to a real-life seventh-century A.D. female leader of Pañamarca.


“The most exciting thing is the traces of wear,” said archaeologist Jose Ochatoma, according to Reuters. “There is not a surface in this area that is bare. Everything is painted and finely decorated with mythological scenes and characters.”

The site also prominently features several displays of Moche iconography from the period—scenes in what project director Jessica Ortiz Zevallos called the “Hall of the Moche Imagery” feature four different depictions of a powerful woman. In one instance, she is receiving visitors in procession and, in another, she is seated upon a throne.

The art painted on the walls and pillars of the throne room (and the throne itself) includes representations of a crescent moon, the sea and its creatures, and the arts of spinning and weaving. There’s also a rare scene of an entire workshop of women spinning and weaving while a procession of men carries textiles and “the female leader’s crown, complete with her braids.”

“Pañamarca continues to surprise us,” Lisa Trever, professor of art history at Columbia University, said in a statement, “not only for the ceaseless creativity of its painters but also because their works are overturning our expectations of gender roles in the ancient Moche world.”

An additional discovery at the site revealed what the team has dubbed The Hall of the Braided Serpents, built with wide square pillars. These pillars feature paintings of serpents intertwining with human legs—another completely new motif in Moche art.

“We are discovering an iconography that has not been seen before in the pre-Hispanic world,” Ochatoma told Reuters.

Throughout the hall, images feature warriors, anthropomorphized weapons, and even a large monster chasing a man. “Perched above the plaza, this hall offered a prominent position—almost like box seats at a theatre or stadium—from which to observe the goings-on down below, while it also provided private spaces for its privileged occupants,” Michele Koons, archaeologist at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, said in a statement.

The Pañamarca architectural site—located atop a granite hill and featuring adobe platforms and plazas—was first discovered in the 1950s, and the latest research program has been ongoing since 2018. The latest finds from 1,300 years ago continue to reveal new details about the Moche culture, which pre-dates the Inca Empire to the south.

“We often say that Pañamarca was a place of unprecedented creativity,” Trever told Artnet, “and every season, it seems like that point becomes even more true.”