Andean Hematite Mine

Along the southern Pacific coast of Peru, archeologists have discovered a 2,000 year old iron or Hematite mine. The mine sits on the face of a mountain ridge and is in the area where the Nazca peoples lived, pre-dating the Incas. Remember the Nazca, the people who created the carvings on the Nazca Plain made famous by the silly books of Erik Von Daniken? Hematite was used by the Nazca as red pigment dyes on textiles and body paint. According to Kevin J. Vaughn, an anthropologist at Purdue University who reported the find to National Geographic, they did not make tools or spaceships out of the ore. Modern uses of Hematite include everything from spaceships to jewelry, although our spaceships are not used for drawing animal figures on a plain. The mine, named Mina Primavera, also contained other artifacts like corn cobs, pottery shards, and stone tools. These items linked the Nazca peoples to the site.