Gabriel Prieto
Anthropology Department, University of Florida
Exploring New Children and Camelid Sacrificial Sites in Huanchaco Bay: The Peak of the Iceberg?
Tuesday, March 3, 2020 at 5:00 p.m.
Free and open to the public
In the Bodwell Area, Collins Center for the Arts
In 2019, archaeologists announced the discovery of a mass sacrifice of children and camelids at Huanchaquito, on the North Coast of Peru as a response to a mega ENSO (El Niño Southern Oscillation Event) occurred around 1400-1450 AD. Subsequent excavations revealed three new sites with evidence of human and animal sacrificial practices during the Chimu period (1100-1450 AD) and even during the Inca presence in this region (1450/1470 – 1532 AD). Recent C14 dates confirm that some mass sacrificial events of children and camelids started around 1200 cal AD, suggesting that this practice is significantly earlier than previously thought. This discovery challenges the crisis-driven response theory for mass sacrifices of children and camelids and opens a new scenario in which the Chimu society used ritual violence as part of their religious and political agenda. Moreover, current data suggests that potentially the Chimu society may have had a coastal version of Capacocha, an Inca ceremony in which children and young adolescents were sacrificed on behalf of the Inca emperor under different circumstances.