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LIMA, Peru (AP) \u2014 Utility workers excavating trenches to expand underground gas networks in Peru\u2019s capital<\/a> unearthed two pre-Incan tombs on Thursday. One was empty, but the other held the 1,000-year-old remains of an individual, alongside four clay vessels and three pumpkin shell artifacts.<\/p>\n This isn\u2019t the first time C\u00e1lidda, the company that distributes natural gas in Lima, has found archaeological remains<\/a>. Over more than two decades of excavation work to expand the underground network, the company says it has made more than 2,200 discoveries.<\/p>\n According to archaeologist Jos\u00e9 Aliaga, the vessels\u2019 iconography and their black, white, and red colors \u201callow us to establish a connection with the pre-Incan Chancay culture,\u2019 which is approximately 1,000 to 1,470 years old.\u201d Aliaga told The Associated Press that the individual was found wrapped in a torn bundle, in a sitting position with his legs against his chest, and his team will continue cleaning the remains.<\/p>\n \u201cLima is unique among Latin American capitals,\u201d Aliaga said, \u201cin that various archaeological finds are unearthed during nearly every civil project.\u201d<\/p>\n The Peruvian capital, a city of 10 million people, has more than 400 archaeological sites from the Inca era, the 15th century, or earlier, from the pre-Inca period, according to the Ministry of Culture.<\/p>\n On Thursday, passersby stopped in their tracks to observe the burial site, even taking out their cellphones to take a picture.<\/p>\n \u201cI always thought they were paths where no one had lived,” said Flor Prieto, who was walking with her 7-year-old daughter. \u201cBut now I know that people older than the Incas have lived there\u2026it feels so exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt is very common to find archaeological remains on the Peruvian coast, including Lima, mainly funerary elements: tombs, burials, and, among these, mummified individuals,\u201d said Pieter Van Dalen, dean of the College of Archaeologists of Peru. Van Dalen was not involved in Thursday’s discovery.<\/p>\n ____<\/p>\n Follow AP\u2019s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/latin-america<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n