Pre-Incan mummy dug up in center of Lima

An archaeologist cleans a mummy of the pre-Inca culture Ychsma at an archaeological site in Lima July 22, 2009. REUTERS/Pilar Olivares (PERU)

A pre-Incan mummy and eight other skeletons have been dug up from under what used to be a shanty town in the middle of Peru's capital, archeologists said on Wednesday.

Urban squatters had lived on the Huaca Huantille ruins for years, unaware they contained an ancient burial site.

Archeologist Roberto Quispe working on the excavation said the bones were from the Ychsma civilization dating from between 1000 and 1400 AD.

The burial site was found after city officials and Peru's national institute of culture kicked out 50 homeless families that had built a shantytown on the ruins, and later started excavations.

Hundreds of archeological sites are scattered across Lima, and in some cases Catholic churches or mansions were built on top of Inca ruins after Spanish conquistadors arrived in Peru.

Many huacas, as Peruvians call them, were paved over or raided by tomb robbers during centuries of urbanization.

More recently some huacas, especially in wealthier neighborhoods, have been restored and museums have been built to display tools, baskets and pottery found at the sites.

(Agencies)