CAJAMARQUILLA, PERU — Archaeologists in Peru have recently been finding the bodies of hundreds of children who were alive and kicking until they were turned into mummies — apparently to help dead aristocrats get into the afterlife. Here are the details:
Agence France Presse reports that archeologists have discovered six mummified children at the archeological site of Cajamarquila, which is located about 24 kilometers to the east of Lima, the capital of Peru.
The scientists believe the children had been sacrificed and placed in a nobleman’s tomb — apparently to accompany the dead aristocrat to the afterlife.
The tiny skeletons, wrapped tightly in cloth, were found last November in the grave of an important man, possibly a political figure.
Archeologist Pieter Van Dalen told the AFP: “The children could have been close relatives and were placed in different parts of the entrance of the tomb, one on top of the other.” He added: “The children, according to our working hypothesis, would have been sacrificed to accompany the mummy to the underworld.”
The scientists theorize the mummies are between 1,000 and 1,200 years old. The city of Cajamarquilla itself consisted of mud houses and was inhabited between 200 BC and 1500 BC, which was the pre-Inca period.
The city would have been home to around 10,000 to 20,000 people. The mummies were found next to valuable objects like ceramic pots, decorated calabashes, knitting gear and the remains of flowers.
The tomb is around three meters long and 1.4 meters deep. Nearby, the team also found the bones of seven adults who had not been mummified, as well as the remains of Llama-like animals.
In 2018, archaeologists in Peru found evidence of the biggest-ever sacrifice of children, uncovering the remains of more than 140 youngsters who were slain alongside 200 llamas as part of a ritual offering, around 550 years ago.
SOURCES: AFP via France24, Phys
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