The archaeological site Castillo de Huarmey, a significant relic of the Wari Period (650-1050 AD), is situated in the Ancash region on the northern coast of Peru, 1km from Huarmey. This extensive complex, built over 1000 years ago, was a testament to the power and influence of the Wari Empire, one of Peru’s most prominent pre-Columbian states. Since 2010, a team of Polish and Peruvian scholars from the University of Warsaw has been meticulously studying this invaluable archaeological site. Twelve years ago, an international research team led by Miłosz Giersz and Patrycja Prządka-Giersz from the University of Warsaw discovered the first tomb belonging to the highest female elite of the Wari Empire. The royal tomb contained the queen accompanied by fifty-seven other nobles, six human sacrifices, two tomb guards, and over 1300 artifacts made of gold, silver, bronze, precious gems, wood, bone, and shells. This unprecedented discovery was highlighted by National Geographic Magazine as the first ever cover story dedicated to Polish archaeologists and was chosen as one of the ten most important discoveries that year by the prestigious Archaeology magazine.
In February 2022, Miłosz Giersz and Patrycja Prządka-Giersz made another significant discovery a few meters from the royal tomb. They unearthed an important mortuary gallery with the remains of seven royal craftsmen. Their high social status is evidenced by the found of gold and silver jewelry and rich grave goods, including numerous tools (bronze axes, knives, saws), raw materials for craft production, as well as textiles, wooden artifacts, painted leather, and unfinished products, deposited as a testimony to their past profession. These findings confirm that Castillo de Huarmey served as an elite tomb and a space of ancestral veneration, an important administrative center of the Wari Empire, and a place to produce the finest handicrafts in the domain. The most eminent craftsmen and artists serving at the royal court of Wari were among the few who could be buried at the royal necropolis in Castillo de Huarmey. The Gallery of Elite Craftsmen was chosen as one of the ten most important discoveries of the year 2022 by Archaeology magazine.
Organizers:
Polish Society for Latin American Studies
The University of Warsaw Museum
Curators:
Miłosz Giersz, Chair of the Department of Archaeology of the Americas, Faculty of Archaeology, University of Warsaw
Patrycja Prządka-Giersz, Center for Research and Practice in Cultural Continuity, Faculty of “Artes Liberales”, University of Warsaw
Sponsors:
The exhibition was funded by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education, grant no. POPUL/SN/0529/2023/01