Ancient Remains of Child Sacrifices Unearthed in Peru

In yet another find in Peru, researchers have discovered a mass burial of children who were sacrificed in the fourteenth century during the pre-Inca times.

Archaeologist Eduardo Arisaca announced on Sunday that remains of 200 people, including 44 children, were discovered near a stone funeral tower at Sillustani archeological site, the local media reported.

Located about 10 kilometers from Puno, Sillustani is a pre-Incan burial ground where tombs are built in stone tower-like structures known as chullpas.

The remains of 44 children include infants and babies of both the sexes buried in pairs, the archaeologist said.

“They are accompanied by offerings of animals and objects such as ceramic pots, dishes, food remains, and stone tools, among others. Each of them has a stone on the chest of material known as andesite and other volcanic material,” Arisaca was quoted as saying by the Lima-based Peruvian newspaper El Comercio.

“Children are in a fetal position. Their faces are directed toward the east (rising sun). Everyone has an elongated skull pretreatment and some abnormalities in bones, as a result of genetic defects.”

Though the exact reason of the sacrifice was not explained, the archaeologist projected that it could have been a war ritual.

In September this year, a team of archaeologists excavated the remains of 42 children and 74 camelids in Peru’s fishing town of Huanchaquito, Trujillo. These were sacrificed about 800 years ago as a ritual of the religious ceremony of the pre-Inca Chimu culture; the followers, called Chimor, worshipped the Moon and followed a practice of sacrificing their own children for the fertility of the ocean and the land.

In another archaeological discovery in 1977, about 200 skeletal remains belonging to the Chimu culture were unearthed on a Peruvian beach.