Archaeologists in Peru have made an exciting discovery within a sealed corridor in a 3,000-year-old temple complex: a roughly 37-pound large ceramic piece adorned with appears to be a condor's head and wings.
The corridor has since been named "the condor's passageway" and was pinpointed by officials in addition to a ceramic bowl found in the corridor last May, when archaeologists initially discovered the entrance.
Lead archaeologist and Stanford anthropology professor John Rick described the find as something that has been "frozen in time." The condor holds great significance in ancient Andean cultures, symbolizing power and health as it is associated with the sun deity and believed to be the ruler of the upper world.
To explore the "condor's passageway," the professor's team used robots equipped with cameras to navigate the debris that had accumulated in the corridor since a flood in 1945. The approach helped reduce the risk of damaging or collapsing the ancient structure.
Situated about 190 miles northeast of Lima, Peru, the ceramic finds were made at the Chavin de Huantar archaeological site - home to the Chavin culture that flourished between 1,500 and 550 BC. Rick stated that a significant portion of the temple complex has yet to be excavated.