A group of archaeologists have discovered on the northern coast of Peru the remains of more than 50 children - representatives of the pre-Columbian culture of Chimu (South America) - who were sacrificed. This is reported by the South China Morning Post.
Excavations were carried out at Pampa La Cruz in Trujillo. The skeletons of children aged 6-14 years with removed sternum were wrapped in cotton shrouds. It is noted that the mass grave is located one kilometer north of Huanchachito, where the bones of 140 children and 200 baby llamas were found. However, according to scientists, even more remains may be found during excavations.
The coastal sacrifice took place over 600 years ago in a ritual designed to prevent catastrophic downpours and floods caused by the powerful El Niño phases.
Another ritual massacre at Huanchachito occurred an estimated 550 years ago. The massacre site is located 300 meters from the Pacific Ocean, among residential areas outside the city of Trujillo in the La Libertad region (northwestern Peru). This find is the largest evidence of child sacrifice in Peru.
The pre-Columbian Chimu culture existed from 1250 to 1470. The state where it arose was called Chimor, and up to 60 thousand people lived in the capital Chan-Chan, which made this city the largest metropolis in South America at that time. At the beginning of the 16th century, Chimor, conquered by the Incas by that time, was destroyed by the Spanish conquistadors.