Born: Unknown, Unknown
Died: Unknown
Country most active: Peru
Also known as: NA
The Lady of Cao is a nickname given to a female Moche mummy discovered in 2005 at the El Brujo archeological site about 45 km north of Trujillo in Peru’s La Libertad Region. The richness of her burial site, combined with the presence of weapons, suggest that the woman might have been an important priestess or a Moche ruler, possibly governing what is now known as the Chicama District region of northern Peru. Previously, archaeologists believed that only men held high rank in the Moche culture, making this one of the most important archeological discoveries about the Moche, who occupied the Chicama Valley from about 100 to 700 AD. The Lady died in her twenties circa 300 AD, likely due to childbirth. Her arms and legs were covered with tattoos of snakes, spiders and other supernatural motifs, and a strangled adolescent was discovered near her funerary bundle, possibly a sacrifice to guide her into the afterlife.