The remains of two young men, likely a boy and a girl, lie side by side at a mass burial site in Pampa Los Angeles Cruz, on Peru’s arid northern coast. They were among the 269 young men who were sacrificed and buried around 1450 A. D. at two sites near Chan Chan, the ancient capital of the Chimu people. Most of the sick were killed with a cut in the chest, perhaps to remove the heart, and buried in undeniable shrouds.
Prieto, a professor of archaeology at the National University of Trujillo, is located at the sacrificial site of Pampa los Ángeles Cruz, a hill overlooking Huanchaco. As a child, Prieto explored the ruins of Chan Chan, the ancient capital of nearby Chimu.
Prieto (with a brush, resting on one elbow) and Verano (far left, with a camera) paint with their equipment to observe shallow graves in Huanchaquito. Shortly after finishing excavations here, archaeologists discovered a second child sacrifice site nearby. Pampa los angeles cruz.
Buried in the dust more than 500 years ago, this footprint preserves the footsteps of an adult in sandals who offered in the sacrificial rite in Huanchaquito. Llama hoof prints on the left suggest that the animal does as well.
Fishermen at Playa Pimentel are preparing to release their totora reed boats into the Pacific. Known as caballitos de totora, these unique vessels have been in use in the region for at least 3,500 years.
Of the same age as the slaughtered, Joel Nicolás Fiestas Martínez, left, with his totora horse. Chimu ceramic vessels depict reed vessels of the same design.
A textile discovered at an elite burial in Pampa, Los Angeles, Cruz depicts the rod god, depicted with a staff in each hand, atop a pedestal surrounded by minor deities and ears of corn.
Archaeologist Prieto is in one of the six burial pits excavated at the top of the hill at the site of Pampa Los Angeles Cruz, where 132 children and 260 sacrificed angels were discovered. In the Los Angeles time-frame below, Prieto and his assistants unwrap one of the site’s funeral packages, which contains the remains of two young men wrapped in textiles.
A copper knife discovered in Pampa Los Angeles Cruz, the first of its kind, includes a rattle (pictured below) that is believed to have sounded when the blos angeles passed over the victim’s chest.
The skulls of the Huanchaquito juveniles show two types of cranial changes, suggesting other geographic origins. Elongated skulls, molded by headbanding from infancy, are characteristic of the highlands, while skulls with flattened backs are seen among populations along the northern coast.
Burial of a child discovered in Pampa los Ángeles Cruz. Some remains at sacrificial sites have been mummified over time, preserving the victim’s skin and hair, as well as the animals’ fur.
The boy’s skull shows that cinnabar, a red mineral used for ceremonial purposes, had been smeared on the victim’s face and mouth. The good condition of the teeth shows that the child has been well fed and cared for.