LIMA – Technicians found the remains of 79 human bodies dating back to the 7th century while carrying out restoration work at the Kuelap fortress in northern Peru, the daily Peru.21 reported Thursday.

The director of the conservation project, Alfredo Narvaez, told the paper that the human remains were found inside a stone wall that is believed to have been a secondary grave site, meaning the remains had been removed from their original burial place.

Narvaez said those involved in building the fortress brought their dead from their places of origin to Kuelap for reburial.

“This custom is very widespread in pre-Columbian Peru and Kuelap, which, due to its monumental size, required the community efforts of (people from) several areas,” he said.

That would explain how human remains that Narvaez says date back to the 7th and 8th centuries could be found in a structure built around 1000 A.D.

The same humid and rainy climate that has made it necessary to carry out the current restoration and conservation work is also deemed to be the reason why only the bones of the dead endured.

“Most are bone remains of adults, but we’re not ruling out that there may also be (remains of) adolescents,” Narvaez said.

The archaeologist added that project financing difficulties mean that a meticulous study of the bones will have to be delayed until year’s end.

Narvaez, meanwhile, said that restoration work also is being carried out on a complex of 27 structures that were recently discovered in a sector to the south of the fortress.

“We want to find evidence that allows us to learn a little more about the history of this area,” he said.

Referring to the 35 sections of the fortress that were on the verge of collapse, the expert said that 60 percent of the affected area has been restored.

Although the Kuelap complex boasts close to 400 buildings and a 19-meter-high (62-foot-high) wall, difficulty in accessing this archaeological site in northern Peru prevents it from being an important tourist destination. EFE