Even after carrying out excavations for decades and exploring ancient civilizations that suddenly vanished, there’s still a lot that we don’t know about them. Long before the formation of the Inca Empire, Pañamarca emerged somewhere between 500 and 800 CE and it was home to the Moche people. Providing further insight into Peruvian history, the latest excavation revealed an ornate throne which reveals that women held positions of power in ancient Moche society.

This contradicts the long-held notion that men dominated the throne back then, as reported in a Pañamarca Digital press release. According to The Smithsonian, Peruvian and American researchers associated with the Archaeological Landscapes of Pañamarca research program have been studying the ancient Moche site since 2018. According to the previous excavations, the site is known for its richly-colored wall paintings that depict scenes of priests and warriors in procession, battles between supernatural beings, unusual two-faced men, and ceremonial activities related to human captives. But never before has an archaeologist stumbled upon a full-fledged throne room where a powerful woman sat as the queen.

The 1,300-year-old throne room was discovered in what project director Jessica Ortiz Zevallos has named the “Hall of the Moche Imaginary.” Like other rooms, this room too is decorated with vibrant paintings that portray scenes of a woman seated on a similar throne receiving visitors, as well as images of a crown, the crescent moon, sea creatures, and a weaving workshop. This is unlike anything seen before anywhere in Peru. Plus, the recovery of greenstone beads, fine threads, and even human hair confirmed that the throne was occupied by a living person.

“There are several things that are very important regarding this wonderful discovery,” Gabriela Cervantes Quequezana, an archaeologist who isn’t involved in the excavation, told The New York Times. “We’ve seen other representations of women in tombs, but not in the depth and complexity in the discoveries in Pañamarca.” “Pañamarca continues to surprise us,” remarked Lisa Trever, professor of art history at Columbia University, in the press release, before adding, “not only for the ceaseless creativity of its painters but also because their works are overturning our expectations of gender roles in the ancient Moche world.” At the same time, scholars aren’t sure whether the woman in these paintings was a priestess, a mythical goddess, or a queen.

During the same excavation, the archaeologists discovered another room that they dubbed the “Hall of the Braided Serpents.” The hall features an array of squared pillars, which are decorated with motifs of serpents intertwined with human legs, something that has never been observed before in Moche art. Other pictures adorning the walls include anthropomorphized weapons, and a large monster chasing a man.

“Perched above the plaza, this hall offered a prominent position—almost like box seats at a theater or stadium—from which to observe the goings-on down below, while it also provided private spaces for its privileged occupants,” archaeologist Michele L. Koons of the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, explained as part of the press release.