incan Archives - In Pure Spirit

An auction house running a valuation day event was surprised when a rare 400 year old pottery flask was brought in.

: Incan artefact – Express and Star

The owner of the 16th century artefact, believed to originate from Peru, hails from Shenstone, near Lichfield, a small Staffordshire village.

Charles Hanson, who manages the auction house, told press; “We don’t know how the vendor acquired the object,” but there is speculation that the owner’s grandfather may have brought it home after decades of travel in the late 19th century.

The flask is in good condition, with some minor wear around the rim, despite travelling so far and pre-dating the reign of Henry VIII.

In Pure Spirit

Would you ever consider bidding on an artefact like this or would you be hesitant given the flask’s unknown history and purpose…

: 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.

Mysterious Incan artefact surfaces in rural English village

The Chotuna-Chornancap sacrifices

Disclosure

Policies