When she died in about 750 BC, the ‘Lady of Pacopampa’ was buried with great pomp and ritual in a tomb given pride of place at the centre of a great ceremonial complex. Her presence served as a constant reminder to present and future generations of her high status in life and her residual importance in death.
However, she also epitomises the result of a long, slow process of social change that began about half a millennium earlier.
First occupation at the Pacopampa Archaeological Complex dates to the beginning of the Middle Formative Period, around 1200 BC, and witnessed a continual process of construction until about 500 BC.
