Archaeologists unearth 3,000-year-old tomb of shaman mediator 'between the spiritual and earthly worlds'

A group of archaeologists working in Peru discovered an ancient tomb in which the remains of a "priest" were found, the deceased was buried with the image of a jaguar near the city of Cajamarca.

The shaman's face was covered in red cinnabarite paint, a naturally occurring mineral that was difficult to obtain as it had to be brought from the mountains. 

"Cinnabarite  is believed to come from the central highlands of the Andes, and we believe that only the elite could have obtained it or waited through long trade routes," said Yuji Seki, an archaeologist at the National Museum of Ethnology of Japan and co-director of the archaeological team.

The team called the individual a 'priest' in their statement, but the individual may have been more like a shaman who manipulated the powers of jaguars, snakes and birds of prey.

The team has not yet done radiocarbon dating, but the design of the artefacts is consistent with those found in the region earlier, dated to about 3,000 years ago.