LIMA, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Peru on Tuesday unveiled the face of an ancient pre-Incan matriarch believed to have ruled the northern Chicama Valley some 1,700 years ago.
Using 3D forensic technology, archaeologists recreated the facial features of the ruler whose perfectly preserved mummified remains, discovered just over a decade ago, showed vestiges of spider and snake tattoos, earning her the nickname "the Tattooed Lady."
"Technology is going to allow us to see the face of a past political-religious-cultural ruler," Minister of Culture Salvador del Solar said just before the lifelike replica of the noble ruler was unveiled at a ceremony at the ministry's headquarters in Lima.
A team of 30 experts in different fields and from different countries worked to recreate the image of Senora de Cao, or the Lady of Cao, who was named after a nearby town.
Experts relied on the well-preserved mummy, including skull, brow line, cheekbones and teeth, to establish her features, and also took into account photographs of residents around the archaeological site of El Brujo, in Chicama, where she was found.
The ruler is believed to have died between the ages of 25 and 30, after giving birth.
Senora de Cao was discovered in 2005, buried along with 100 kilos of funerary relics and valuable objects, an indication of her elevated status among the Moche people of the valley.
While archaeologists have yet to find clear evidence of her role among the Moche culture, they believe her tomb points to her having been a ruler or a member of a ruling family.
