Archaeologists investigating the ancient city of Vichama in Peru have uncovered two serpent-related sculptures that may help explain how its inhabitants interpreted severe environmental change nearly 3,800 years ago.
The discoveries were announced by Peru’s Ministry of Culture and the Caral Archaeological Zone during events marking 19 years of research, conservation and restoration at the site. Vichama, located in Végueta in Huaura province north of Lima, belonged to the Caral cultural tradition, which flourished between approximately 1800 and 1500 BC.
One of the newly highlighted objects was found in Sector D. The roughly 30-centimetre-long sculpture was carved from the antler of a young deer and polished. It depicts what appears to be a dead anthropomorphic figure with closed eyes and mouth, accompanied by a serpent-like creature. Researchers believe the composition could represent transformation or renewal, with the serpent associated with a transition from death to a new cycle of life.
The second object is a 6.9-centimetre figure made from unfired clay. Traces of red and black pigment remain on its surface, and a serpent with a triangular head appears in relief across the front. An object held beside the figure may have had a ritual function, although its purpose has not been established.
Other snake representations have been found in Vichama’s public buildings and residential areas. Some appear to have been deliberately deposited as offerings during architectural renovations. Researchers associate the recurring imagery with water, fertility, transformation and the continuity of life—ideas of particular importance to a community dependent on agriculture and fishing.
The new finds add to earlier evidence from the site. In Vichama’s Main Public Building, or Sector A, archaeologists have identified 34 anthropomorphic and fish-like reliefs forming what they call the Mural of the Dance of Life and Death. The composition has been interpreted as preserving memories of environmental hardship. In Sector K, the Mural of Fertility shows two serpents converging on a central figure that researchers interpret as an anthropomorphised seed.
Dr Ruth Shady Solís, head of the Caral Archaeological Zone, said the reliefs may have been intended to preserve knowledge of climatic upheaval for future generations. The findings therefore suggest not only that Vichama’s population experienced environmental instability, but also that it incorporated those experiences into architecture, art and ritual traditions. The serpent artefacts provide additional evidence for that interpretation, while their precise meanings remain inferential.
