A rare, unlooted royal tomb has been found in Peru, replete with gold and silver riches, the mummified bodies of queens and other, less-adorned bodies thought to have been human sacrifices.

The pristine state of the site is something of a miracle, say archaeologists, surrounded as it is by other heavily looted areas.

The queens ruled over the Wari, an ancient civilization that built South America's earliest empire between 700 and 1000 AD, National Geographic reports.

Archaeologist Milosz Giersz was gripped by anxiety when he first glimpsed gold in the dim recesses of the burial chamber, knowing that looters would descend in droves if the word got out. "I had a nightmare about the possibility," Giersz told National Geographic.

Researchers told Reuters the discovery will help them piece together life in the Andes centuries before the rise of the Incan empire, which was written about in detail by the conquering Spaniards.

The mausoleum, unearthed a few months ago at a coastal pyramid site called El Castillo de Huarmey 185 miles north of Lima, contained gold pieces, ceramics and 63 skeletons about 1,300 years old.

Researchers said most of the bodies found in the burial chamber were mummified women sitting upright - indicating royalty and suggesting Wari women held more power than previously thought.

"The women were buried with finely engraved ear pieces made of precious metals that once were believed to be used only by men," archaeologist Patrycja Przadk told Reuters.

Historians believe the Wari, who ruled between 600 and 1100 A.D., were the first people to unite diverse tribes into a sophisticated network across most of today's Peruvian Andes.

Bioarchaeologist Wieslaw Wieckowski said six skeletons were not wrapped in textiles and appear to have been human sacrifices for the mummified elite.

"They were people thrown into the grave before the grave was sealed," he said. "They were lying on their bellies, in an extended position and their limbs went in different directions."