- Image by Vincent Ma via Flickr
Carlos Webster and his team of archaeologists in Peru working in the exavations at the Chotuna-Chornancap have discovered the remains of around three dozen people believed to be sacrificed over 600 years ago by Incas.
The remains of Incan and pre-Incan sacrifices are not rare but the size of this find makes it unique. The Chotuna Chornacap is a large site some 12 miles from the coastal city of Chicalyo.
Sacrifice was common in Incan culture and occured in the lands which are now known as Peru, Chile and Ecuador between 1400 and the middle of 1500. The 33 bodies found by the archaelogists are likely to belong to sacrifices made just before the arrival of the Spanish explorers.
“Most of the remains belong to young women, around 15 years of age. One of them appears to have been pregnant because in her abdomen, the collarbone of a fetus, probably around 4 months, was found,” said Webster as he described his find.
“The majority (of the bodies) are in good condition – skin tissues and hair have been preserved. They were found in a dry area more than 7 feet underground,”
In Pure Spirit
Are you glad that the Spanish encountered the Icans? As a result we might argue the Ican culture is now lost to us but these sacrifices no longer occur.
Thankfully the Incan culture is no more. It is time we stopped romanticising it and looked at reality. I am glad that many of the Incan art did not survive as it depicted many scenes of sacrifice- scenes people cannot learn from, hopefully.
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