# Peru's Untouched Tomb Under a Lost Capital

> Archaeologists found the first unlooted mausoleum at Chan Chan, a mud city that once ruled Peru's coast.
- Title: Peru's Untouched Tomb Under a Lost Capital · Robb Report
- Summary: Archaeologists found the first unlooted mausoleum at Chan Chan, a mud city that once ruled Peru's coast. After centuries of looting, Chan Chan still had one…
- Keywords: archaeology, peru, chan chan, chimu, ancient history, Peru's, Untouched, Tomb, Under, Lost, Capital, Robb Report
- Source: Robb Report — https://robbreport.com/shelter/art-collectibles/ancient-mausoleum-discovered-peruvian-coast-1238644038
- Author: Francesca Aton for ArtNews
- Published: 2026-09-14T16:00:00+00:00
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: archaeology, peru, chan chan, chimu, ancient history
## A tomb no one had touched
Peruvian officials announced this week that archaeologists uncovered an ancient mausoleum complex beneath a ruined citadel on the country's northern coast.
## A first for the city
Every other burial found at the site had already been disturbed. This is the first untouched tomb experts have recovered there.

> This is the first time experts have found an untouched tomb in the city.
## The capital of the Chimu
The find sits at Chan Chan, near present-day Trujillo. It was the seat of the Chimu kingdom, which held much of Peru's coast before the Inca rose.
## Picked over for centuries
Decades of excavation have turned up a site stripped again and again: first by Inca conquest, then Spanish colonizers, then looters.
## The biggest city in the Americas
At its peak Chan Chan sprawled across nine square miles of gardens, plazas, pyramids and mausoleums, the largest city anywhere in the Americas.
## Why this one matters
An undisturbed tomb is rare in a place this plundered, which is exactly what makes it worth digging carefully.
## Key takeaway

After centuries of looting, Chan Chan still had one tomb nobody had reached, and it just came to light.