- 'Imperfect' PSG fighting on all fronts - Luis Enrique
- Struggling Pakistan look to thwart adaptable England
- Child 'trampled to death' in asylum seekers' Channel crossing: minister
- Gauff fights back to set up Beijing final against Muchova
- Guardiola claims Premier League won't delay season for Man City
- Israel to mark October 7 attack as Gaza war spreads
- Gauff fights back to reach China Open final
- Recovering Stokes ruled out of first Pakistan Test
- Hezbollah battles troops on border as Israel pounds Lebanon
- Alcaraz, Sinner breeze into third round of Shanghai Masters
- Bagnaia wins Japan MotoGP sprint to cut Martin's lead
- Alcaraz breezes into third round of Shanghai Masters
- Gaza cultural heritage brought to light in Geneva
- 'Bullet for democracy': Trump returns to site of rally shooting
- Italy targets climate activists in 'anti-Gandhi' demo clampdown
- South Korean cult-horror series 'Hellbound' returns at BIFF
- Nepalis fear more floods as climate change melts glaciers
- Honduras arrests environmentalist's alleged murderer
- Padres pitcher Musgrove needs elbow surgery
- Supreme Court lets stand rules to curb mercury, methane emissions
- Boston beat Denver in NBA exhibition season opener, but Jokic says omens are good
- Chagos diaspora angry at lack of input on islands' fate
- Biden says 'not confident' of peaceful US election
- US trade chief defends tariff hikes when paired with investment
- Lukaku stars as Napoli beat Como to hold Serie A top spot
- Ohtani set for MLB playoff debut as Dodgers face Padres
- Pogba's drug ban cut to 18 months from four years
- Devine leads New Zealand to big win over India in Women's T20 World Cup
- Bosnia floods kill 16 people
- EU court blocks French ban on vegetable 'steak' labelling
- Prosecutors seek dismissal of rape charges against French rugby players
- Meta AI turns pictures into videos with sound
- Bolivia's Morales says claims he raped a minor are a 'lie'
- MLB Reds hire two-time champion Francona as manager
- Daniel Maldini receives first Italy call-up for Nations League
- US dockworkers return to ports after three-day strike
- Ancelotti points finger at Madrid's 'lack of intensity'
- Haiti reeling after 70 killed in gang attack
- Five Czech kids in hospital over TikTok 'piercing challenge'
- What happens next in Iran-Israel conflict?
- Country star Garth Brooks denies rape accusations
- Stubbs hits maiden century as South Africa make 343-4 against Ireland
- DR Congo to begin mpox vaccination campaign Saturday in east
- Odegaard injury has forced Arsenal to be 'different', says Arteta
- Ratcliffe refuses to guarantee Ten Hag's Man Utd future
- Meta must limit data use for targeted ads: EU court
- Mauritius to hold legislative election on November 10
- Britain qualify for America's Cup final after 60-year wait
- IMF asks Sri Lanka to protect hard-won gains
- Morata returns to Spain Nations League squad after injury
Archeologists find ancient Peruvian fresco, lost for a century
Archeologists have rediscovered a pre-Hispanic fresco depicting mythological scenes in northern Peru that they had only seen in black and white photographs that were more than a century old.
"It's an exceptional discovery, first of all, because it is rare to unearth wall paintings of such quality in pre-Colombian archeology," said Sam Ghavami, the Swiss archeologist who led excavations that uncovered the mural in October.
Ghavami spent four years looking for the rock painting, which he believes could be around 1,000 years old, with a team of Peruvian students.
"The composition of this painting is unique in the history of mural art in pre-Hispanic Peru," added the archaeologist, who trained at the University of Freiburg in Germany.
The fresco forms part of the Huaca Pintada temple, which belonged to the Moche civilization that flourished between the 1st and 8th centuries, and venerated the Moon, the rain, iguanas, and spiders.
The uncovered mural is about 30 meters (98 feet) long, and its images in blue, brown, red, white, and mustard yellow paint remain extremely well preserved.
In one section, a procession of warriors can be seen heading toward a birdlike deity.
The painted images "appear to be inspired by the idea of a sacred hierarchy built around a cult of ancestors and their intimate links with the forces of nature," said Ghavami.
He told AFP that deciphering the mural's message would form part of his research, but he believes it "could be interpreted as a metaphorical image of the political and religious order of the region's ancient inhabitants."
The discovery is also unusual as it shows a mixture of styles and elements of two pre-Incan cultures: the Moche and the Lambayeque, who lived on Peru's north coast between 900 and 1350 AD.
The mural's existence was only known via black and white photos taken in 1916 by the German ethnologist Hans Heinrich Bruning, who was living in Peru when he heard of the site after treasure hunters tried to loot it, but found nothing of value.
As the years went on, thick foliage took over, and no one had tried to look for the paintings until it piqued Ghavami's interest and he went in search of the long-lost fresco.
However, first he had a long battle to obtain permission from the family who own the land where the mural was found.
L.Torres--PC