A mummy estimated to be around 800 years old has been discovered on Peru’s central coast.

The mummified remains were said to be of a person from the culture that developed between the coast and mountains of the country, before the rise of the Inca Empire in the 1400s.

The mummy’s gender is not yet known, but it was discovered east of Lima, the capital of the south American country.

Archaeologist Pieter Van Dalen Luna, who worked on the excavation, added the remains are of a person who lived in the high Andean region of the country.

He said: “The main characteristic of the mummy is that the whole body was tied up by ropes and with the hands covering the face, which would be part of the local funeral pattern.

“Radiocarbon dating will give a more precise chronology.”

The mummy was found inside an underground structure that was located on the outskirts of Lima.

There were also ceramics, vegetable remains and stone tools inside the tomb.

Peru is home to hundreds of archaeological sites from cultures that developed before and after the Inca Empire.

The empire dominated the southern part of South America, from southern Ecuador and Colombia to central Chile.