Archaeologists working on a natural gas project in Peru’s capital have uncovered five pre-Inca burial sites beneath a street in a neighborhood flanked by modern buildings and a golf club.

The discovery was announced Wednesday by experts monitoring construction of underground pipelines to expand natural gas distribution in Lima.

It is the latest in a string of archaeological finds in the city, which was founded by the Spanish in 1535 but had already been home to the Inca and, long before that, pre-Inca cultures dating back some 4,000 years.

“At Cálidda, we have already made more than 2,200 archaeological discoveries during 21 years of continuous work on the natural gas network in Lima, Callao and Cañete,” said Jesús Bahamonde, an archaeologist and director of the company’s archaeological monitoring plan.

The most recent discovery included five skeletons in two separate burial groups, less than a meter below the surface. Three of the burials were found with red-and-white painted clay pots linked to the Lima culture, which flourished 1,800 to 2,000 years ago.

The other two were found alongside vessels from the Ichma culture, which dates back about 800 years.

Archaeologists also uncovered Spondylus seashells, a prized mollusk brought from equatorial Pacific waters and often used in rituals to call for rain.

AP Video shot by Cesar Barreto