Robots discover secret tunnel maze hiding the skeletons of three 'sacrifices' under 3,000 year old temple

The astonishing find was made below the Chavin de Huantar temple

Tiny robots have made an astonishing discovery, with an elaborate maze of tunnels found underneath a 3,000 year old temple in Peru.

The surprising find was made by American and Peruvian archaeologists below the Chavin de Huantar temple.

Robots named Chavin Rover used cameras and lights to uncover the tunnels - as well as three skeletons, believed to have been killed as sacrifices.

This religious and administrative centre was built 3,000 years ago in the Andean area of Peru, in the western Peruvian department of Ancash.

A small robot armed with micro cameras explored the complex network of tunnels 

Archaeologists have hailed the discovery as a massive breakthrough 

Footage shows a robot in action beneath the temple 

The complex tunnel network is thousands of years old 

The robots were designed by engineers of Stanford University.

They are small vehicles with cameras and a light system attached that are operated using remote control.

The robots on wheels were able to find ceramic fragments, tools and remains of human skeletons, according to the archaeological team.

On the temple complex of Chavin de Huantar a total of 35 interlinked underground tunnels have been identified, dating back between 1,200 and 200 years BC.

The discovery was made at the site where the Chavin de Huantar temple was built 

The remote controlled robots were developed in the US 

A total of 35 interlinked underground tunnels have been identified 

Expedition crew at the site of the tunnel discovery 

The director of the investigation project and archaeologist from Stanford University, John Rick, said: "We have found at least three people in one of the galleries.

"One of them is a small boy, the other one is a teenager and the other one is a young man, between 20 and 30 years old.

"Authorities and priests played with the architecture and carried out rituals with drugs, noise and light manipulation that pilgrims could not explain and made them believe the leaders of Chavin had higher powers."

Experts say items found in the tunnels give huge clues about the past 

It is believed that thanks to the use of the robots more tunnels could be discovered 

According to Rick, they believe the bodies might have been sacrifices as one of the skeletons was found face down.

Archaeologists have considered this discovery as one of the most important of the last 50 years.