Archaeologists were shocked to uncover a 700-year-old burial site in Peru containing the remains of 76 children and two adults, all with identical chest wounds. The victims, part of ancient child sacrifice rituals, included some infants with elongated skulls.
This is one of the latest sacrificial sites found at Pampa La Cruz near the coastal city of Trujillo in the north of Peru.
The child sacrifice site is connected to the Chimu, a large civilization that lived in northern Peru between the 12th and 15th centuries and predated the Inca empire. The Chimu aimed to build complex irrigation systems in lands where crops didn’t grow.
The horrific discoveries made at the child sacrifice site in Peru
Researchers made some extraordinary discoveries at the site. The children that were sacrificed were buried naked with their clothes placed near them. Perhaps more shockingly, however, they discovered that the children had been cut open from the collarbone to the sternum, with their ribs being forced open.
This brutal method is thought to be used in sacrificial rituals to access the hearts of the children that were sacrificed.
Despite the brutality of these acts, this was yet another mass burial site for child sacrifices at Pampa La Cruz. In 2022, it was also reported that there was yet another mass grave of 76 children found near the newly discovered site.
Another 76 sacrificed children have been uncovered at Pampa la Cruz, a Peruvian site belonging to the Chimu culture. That brings the total number to 302 children, killed in six separate events between 1050-1500 AD. pic.twitter.com/TxymLs9LeA
— Stone Age Herbalist (@Paracelsus1092) September 25, 2022
At this mass graveyard, researchers also found squares made of silver and copper sewn into the children’s clothes, as well as ear ornaments commonly used by the Chimu and Spondylus shells.
Further research suggests the children might have been victims of colonization by the Chimu
The presence of Spondylus shells alongside the remains of the children intrigued researchers, as these shells were only previously found in Lambayeque territory, given that it was a civilization of skilled metalworkers and craftsmen.
Researchers have also suggested that these shells were more valuable than gold for this civilization.
However, the presence of the shells was only the first clue in what would prove to be a much darker truth in the case of the child sacrifice site in Pampa La Cruz, Peru. At the child sacrifice site unearthed in 2022, certain infant skulls were elongated, meaning they were modified.
The Chimu did engage in cranial modification practices but to a much lesser extent than the Lambayeque civilization. The presence of the shells and the cranial modifications led scientists to further examine the child sacrifice victims.
Upon analyzing the isotopes from their remains, researchers found that the children’s diets matched the diets of the Lambayeque civilization.
Researchers concluded that the children that were part of brutal child sacrifice rituals in ancient Peru and their families were conquered by the Chimu and brought to Pampa La Cruz to build irrigation systems.
Some experts have also suggested that the child sacrifices could have been an offering to energize the fields so that crops would grow.
Meet the Ancient Chimú peoples from the northern coast of Peru; They sacrificed their children in an attempt to stop the rain.
The Chimú civilization, which flourished along the northern coast of Peru from around 900 to 1470 C.E.
Engaged in mass sacrifice of their children.… pic.twitter.com/qhbkbBUBWn— Ancient Hypotheses (@AncientEpoch) October 12, 2024
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