WASHINGTON?Thousands of ancient Inca mummies, some bundled together in small groups with their possessions, have been discovered beneath a shantytown near Lima, Peru.

Archaeologists say the find may solve some of the mysteries surrounding the Inca civilization.

So far, researchers have uncovered the remains of more than 2,200 individuals.

The finds are “a perfect sample, each social class, each group of age is represented,” lead archaeologist Guillermo Cock said. It “enables us to look into an Inca community, to study their life, their health, their culture.”

The burials are thought to have occurred between 1480 and 1535, with the site serving as a central cemetery for the Inca, who ruled a South American empire before being conquered by the Spanish.

At Cock’s lab in Lima, physical anthropologists from the United States and Canada are examining bones and other remains to try to learn more about the civilization.