Huarmey Queen: Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous in Ancient Peru

The Huarmey Queen is the name given to the 1200-year-old remains of a Wari woman found in a rich tomb in Peru. She has been a subject of interest since her lavish mausoleum was discovered six years ago. Her skeleton and grave goods have provided details on her appearance, lifestyle, health issues, and role in the ancient Wari society –reflecting the values of that civilization as well.

Discovering the Tomb of the Huarmey Queen

In 2013, a Polish-Peruvian team of archaeologists made a spectacular find in El Castillo de Huarmey (Huarmey’s Castle), a four-hour drive north of Lima, Peru – the first ever intact imperial tomb of the Wari, the ancient civilization that built South America’s earliest empire between 700 and 1000 AD.

The team of researchers led by Milosz Giersz, an archaeologist at the University of Warsaw in Poland, suspected that a mausoleum remained buried deep underground in El Castillo and utilized aerial photography and geophysical imaging equipment to evaluate the area. They noticed a faint outline of what appeared to be an underground tomb and went to the site to investigate. Digging through piles of rubble they made their first discovery – a huge carved wooden mace. “It was a tomb marker,” said Giersz. “We knew then that we had the main mausoleum.”