Archaeologists Unearth 4,000-Year-Old 3D Mural in Peru, Redefining Early American Civilisations

La Libertad, Peru — Archaeologists in Peru have uncovered a spectacular multicoloured three-dimensional mural, estimated to be around 4,000 years old, in a discovery that experts say is reshaping understanding of the earliest civilisations in the Americas.

The mural, measuring three by six metres, depicts a striking bird of prey with outstretched wings, its head adorned with diamond motifs that visually align its north and south faces. Painted in vivid shades of blue, yellow, red and black, the mural is covered with high-relief friezes and adorned with intricate imagery, including stylised fish, nets, mythological beings, and stars.

The find was made at Huaca Yolanda, a temple complex in the Tanguche Valley of Peru’s La Libertad region. Ana Cecilia Mauricio, lead archaeologist at the site and associate professor at the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru, said the discovery provides rare insight into the beliefs, rituals and social organisation of Peru’s formative period (2000–1000 BC).

“These were people who lived from agriculture and the sea but they already show the first signs of social hierarchy,” Mauricio said. “The most influential figures would have been shamans, priests or priestesses — people with knowledge of astronomy and medicinal plants. They were scientists as well as spiritual leaders.”

One section of the mural portrays three humanoid figures seemingly transforming into birds, which Mauricio suggests may represent shamanic rituals involving psychoactive substances such as the San Pedro cactus. Such hallucinogens were later documented in ceremonial practices at Chavín de Huántar, a 2,500-year-old temple site in the Andes.

The Huaca Yolanda site, believed to predate Chavín, is seen as a major addition to the story of pre-Hispanic Peru, home to an estimated 100,000 archaeological sites including Machu Picchu and the Nazca Lines. Mauricio said the mural highlights the “emergence of social hierarchy in Peru as societies get more complex and become civilisations.”

However, the ancient treasure faces modern threats. The site has no full protection from Peru’s culture ministry and is under pressure from expanding agriculture, urban development and looting, which has already damaged nearby ruins.

Mauricio, who has been studying the site since 2012, warned that time is running out. “People in the past had a relationship with their environmental and climatic surroundings that can be valuable to us today,” she said, pointing to how early societies managed to coexist with the destructive El Niño phenomenon. “Can this knowledge help us deal with climate challenges now?”

The discovery is being hailed as one of the most significant in recent decades, offering a vivid window into the artistry, spirituality and science of one of the world’s earliest civilisations.