Archaeologist Giuseppe Orefici died at the age of 79 in his home in Brescia. Orefici's death creates an unfillable void for all scholars and enthusiasts of pre-Columbian American cultures, as he was the world's foremost expert on the Nasca culture (350 BC-550 AD), one of the most important civilizations of ancient Peru. Throughout his career, Orefici taught at different universities, including the Sorbonne and RomaTre, and obtained numerous awards from prestigious Peruvian institutions. He undertook numerous excavation efforts prior to and during his studies on the Nasca sites, including those in Alta Madre de Dios' Ceja de Selva, Tiahuanaco, and Easter Island. Orefici established the Antonini Museum (with the assistance of the Antonini family), which became the most prominent in the city of Nasca. Over the years, the Italian archaeologist has researched all of the most important constructions, which generally include temples, ceremonial enclosures, and stepped pyramids. Among the most notable are the Great Pyramid (Cahuachi's highest structure, 22 meters tall) and the Orange Pyramid, where he discovered the tomb of the priestess girl.