The excavation of the Huaca Cao Viejo at El Brujo archaeological complex in Peru has uncovered the best-preserved elite burial, offering unprecedented glimpses into the customs and rituals of the Moche civilization. The discovery includes evidence of human sacrifice, with two youths strangled and buried with their older relatives, suggesting a practice reserved for the upper class. The six individuals, belonging to a single family with varying degrees of kinship, were buried in a pyramid-like temple, highlighting their political influence. This site provides the first evidence of familial sacrifice and sheds light on the complex societal structure of the Moche, revealing a softer side to ritual killing.
The best-preserved elite burial in Peru reveals the customs of the Moche civilization, including rituals related to human sacrifice as two youths were strangled and laid to rest with their older relatives.
The six individuals belonged to the same family with different degrees of kinship that even demonstrated their political influence. Moreover, they were buried in a religious structure, “a pyramid-like, painted temple,” according to the authors of a new study.They provide the first evidence of sacrifice amongst family members, most likely a practice reserved for the upper class.
Three of the four tombs held adult males. One had a male youth to accompany him in the afterlife. He was strangled with plant fiber rope after his older relative’s death. The most famous and impressively wealthy of graves belongs to a woman called Señora de Cao. She had a juvenile female sharing her grave, who had also been strangled similarly. She might have been an offering, unlike her male counterpart.
Archaeologists applied archaeological, genetic, and isotopic methods to reconstruct their family tree and evaluate their diets. They revealed how the family was related and provided deeper insights into their societal structure.Studies showed that their family tree spanned four generations at varying degrees of kinship. Siblings and grandparents were entombed nearby in the. Their diets consisted of maize and marine animals thus likely spent their childhoods in the area.
Moche Civilization Human Sacrifice Burial Rituals Peru Archaeology
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