APCOM

There is also a bit of Italy in the Peruvian region of Lambayeque. The latter is a costal and semi-deserted area in the north of the country, which in the last months has seen wonderful signs of the pre-Columbian civilization. The excavations which have brought to light the wonderful testimonies were conducted in the area of a project promoted by Italy and sustained by the 'Università degli Studi' of Milano.

At the head of the group of experts is the most famous archaeologist of Perù, Walter Ava, who is helped by professors Emilia Perassi and Antonio Aimi, the two professors of the department of 'Scienze del linguaggio' of the university. It was the Professor Aimi to tell us how the collaboration with Alva, who 20 years ago discovered the tomb of Señor de Sipán (Tutankhamen of the Americas), began. "I've known Alva for several years. The idea of working together was born when we realized the incredible resources that this region has, and at the same time the fact that these resources were not taken advantage of."

The list of discoveries is long, and also from a quality point of view, one can compare it to the most important discoveries which wrote the story of archaeology in the Egypt of Pharaohs. Under two pyramids of bricks, in the necropolis of Sipán - Huaca Rajada, the tomb of a king-priest of 1600-1700 years ago was found. The latter was rich of ritual objects in gold copper, ceramics, emblems, and beautiful ornaments in the size of a jaguar's head.

A very antique portrait of America (with a deer in a net, 2000 B.C.) was instead found in a temple in the not far area of Ventarrón. A second temple emerged instead in Collud, where a bas-relief with a head of a cat and spider beak, was found. "It was obvious that we would have similar results" professor Aimi said. "The area is full of Huacas of bricks and it was not difficult to imagine that we could find both important archaeological finds and authentic gold and silver treasures. Besides in the region there are some of the largest gold mines of the country, and the plain, is the vastest of the entire costal area.

"Even the economy and geography, help understand the importance of this area for Peruvian history, even more important than the famous Machu Picchu". The objective is to show the tourists (today very few) the beauties of this area. "The sites were not ready to receive and show the visitors these magnificent treasures", Aimi said. "By the end of autumn the first phase of the project will be completed: the itinerary is ready, the hand-crafted works centre as well, soon the area will be totally accessible."

However the site is not the only point of interest of this mission, it also concentrates on a social and cultural program, which was made possible by the excavations, and the Prodesipán project, which both the Università degli Studi, Caritas of Peru, and the Museum Tumus Reales de Sipán promoted. Aimi describes the plan's principles. "We knew that in this area there's no money for 'pure' research. We didn't want to be like Indiana Jones: we spoke with the local population and thanks to dialogue we understood the necessities and tried to help them."

Thanks to the Italian-Peruvian Fund for the re-conversion of the debt with Italy, (around 2,5 million Euros), courses on the formation of a tourist based economy were instituted. The latter is one of the most important sectors in Peru. Furthermore an aqueduct and sewage systems were built. They are now working on a project for the new museum of the 'Sitio', which will show the newly discovered artefacts.