birth_date: 1951-06-28 00:00:00
avg_rating: 4.32
name: Walter Alva
about: Director of the Bruning Archeological Museum in Lambayeque, Peru, Alva is best known as an archaeologist specializing in the study and excavation of the prehistoric Moche culture. He is credited with two exceptional finds: the tombs in Huaca Rajada in 1987 and ancient murals at Ventarron in 2007.Alva first achieved international recognition in 1987 for excavating the tomb of a Moche lord in Sipan. Tomb robbers had made the initial discovery yet Alva succeeded in excavating and preserving the treasures- at considerable risk to his life. The findings were later described by the National Geographic Society as the richest intact pre-Columbian tomb in the Western Hemisphere, comparable to the tomb of Tutankhamen from the Old World.In 2007, Alva Director of the Bruning Archeological Museum in Lambayeque, Peru, Alva is best known as an archaeologist specializing in the study and excavation of the prehistoric Moche culture. He is credited with two exceptional finds: the tombs in Huaca Rajada in 1987 and ancient murals at Ventarron in 2007.Alva first achieved international recognition in 1987 for excavating the tomb of a Moche lord in Sipan. Tomb robbers had made the initial discovery yet Alva succeeded in excavating and preserving the treasures- at considerable risk to his life. The findings were later described by the National Geographic Society as the richest intact pre-Columbian tomb in the Western Hemisphere, comparable to the tomb of Tutankhamen from the Old World.In 2007, Alva discovered murals at a 4,000-year-old Peruvian temple at Ventarron, in the Lambayeque region. The murals- showing a deer caught in a net and a red and white abstract design, respectively- are considered to be the oldest murals in the Americas. ...more