A CHILLING discovery has been made in a 700-year-old mass grave that contains the bodies of 76 sacrificed children.
The Peruvian find comes from a civilisation that predated the Inca with the victims likely being conquered from a nearby village.
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Archaeologists have found the dead 76 children had their chests cut open from the collarbone down to the sternum and had their ribs forced open to remove the heart, LiveScience reports.
Now the experts believe they could have been sacrificed to “energise” irrigation for nearby agriculture.
The sacrificial site was found in Pampa La Cruz, in northwestern Peru, and belonged to the Chimu.
The mass grave was first found in 2022, but archaeologists have now begun to uncover the grisly details about its occupants.
The children were buried naked with their clothes near them in a large mound along with silver and copper squares sewn onto the garments.
The 76 victims also had elongated skulls, with bandages likely applied to the children when they were babies to modify them.
The elongated skulls and the diets of the victims make archaeologists believe they likely come from a different territory that was conquered by the Chimu.
They could have been brought into Chimu territory and used to build irrigation systems, the archaeologists believe.
Gabriel Prieto, an assistant professor of anthropology at the University of Florida, said: “The children’s burial in this mound was possibly an offering to energise the fields.
“In Andean cosmology, the dead people become ancestors, and the ancestors legitimise the land rights, and justify and support the systems that keep the land producing.”
Northwestern Peru is a desert and the Chimu could have been trying to turn the dry area fertile for growing food.
Once they built the irrigation channels at the site, they could have been sacrificed.
The fact that these children were likely not of Chimú heritage would have added an extra layer of value to strengthen the lands, Prieto said.
Prieto previously said the area was thought to be free of child sacrifices, but they found the bodies at the top of the mound.
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A whopping 323 sacrificed children have now been found in Pampa La Cruz, with another 137 children found at another site nearby.
Their hearts were also removed.
The Chimu sacrificed children by decisions made in the central government at the capital in Chan Chan – meaning the killing could have been a major event in the country.
A number of shells were also found at the site, measuring 60m by 20m, which were “more valuable than gold” to the Chimu.
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The Spondylus shells were prized by the Chimu as they were used in art and thought to have the power to influence supernatural forces.
The Chimu were eventually conquered by the Inca in the 15th Century – who also sacrificed children.
The Chimu – key facts
The Chimu ruled along coastal Peru between about 900AD and 1500AD when it was conquered by the Inca.
The kingdom’s capital was Chan Chan and as it expanded it conquered other cultures around the area.
Chimu society worshipped the moon, unlike the Inca who worshipped the sun.
They also loved Spondylus shells which they used in religious rites as well as art.
They are best known for their pottery and fine metal working which allowed them to make highly complex and beautiful art.
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