Six Ancient Mummies Of Children, Apparently Sacrificed For A Nobleman, Found In Peru | See PICS
Six mummies of children, believed to have been sacrificed hundreds of years ago, have been unearthed in a tomb near Lima. They were apparently sacrificed to accompany a dead nobleman to the afterlife.
New Delhi: Six mummies of children, believed to have been sacrificed hundreds of years ago, have been unearthed in a tomb near Lima, the capital of Peru. They were apparently sacrificed to accompany a dead nobleman to the afterlife.
The tiny skeletons were discovered in the grave of an important man, who was possibly a political figure, news agency AFP reported. The skeletons were wrapped tightly in cloth. Last November, the grave was discovered at the Cajamarquilla archaeological site located about 24 kilometres east of Lima.
The Findings Of The Archaeologists
Archaeologist Pieter Van Dalen, who is in charge of the Cajamarquilla project, said that the children could be close relatives and were placed in different parents at the entrance of the tomb, one on top of the other, according to the AFP report.
Van Dalen further said that the children, according to the archaeologists' hypothesis, would have been sacrificed to accompany the mummy to the underworld.
Cajamarquilla, a city built out of mud in about 200 BC, in the pre-Inca period, could have been home to 10,000 to 20,000 people. The city was occupied until 1500.
The mummies were about 1,000 to 1,200 years old, Van Dalen said.
The archaeologists also found the bones of seven adults, the remains of llama-like animals, and earthenware, nearby. These adults had not been mummified, the AFP report said.
The tomb in which the remains of the supposed nobleman were found last year was some three metres (9.8 feet) long, and 1.4 metres deep.
The nobleman was entombed with his hands covering his face, and tied up with rope. He is thought to have been about 20 when he died.
In 2018, archaeologists in Peru found evidence of the biggest-ever sacrifice of children, according to media reports. They uncovered the remains of more than 140 youngsters who were slain alongside 200 llamas as part of a ritual offering around 550 years ago.
The children were between the ages of five and 14, researchers determined. Most of the children were between eight and 12 when they died, and their bodies were buried facing west, out to the sea, National Geographic reported.
Quoting John Verano, a physical anthropologist from Tulane University in New Orleans, the National Geographic report said that it is very ritual killing, and it is very systematic.