HUANCHACO, PERU—Live Science reports that the remains of an additional 76 children have been uncovered at the coastal Chimu site of Pampa la Cruz. According to excavation director Gabriel Prieto of the University of Florida, clean cuts across the sternums of all 76 skeletons suggest that the children’s rib cages had been opened, possibly to extract their hearts. The children’s bodies were buried in an extended position, with the feet toward the east, on top of an artificial mound placed near agricultural fields and an artificial irrigation system. The sacrifices, Prieto surmised, may have been intended to “sanctify” the project. In all, the remains of 323 sacrificed children have been uncovered at Pampa la Cruz, and hundreds more are likely to be found in the area, he added. Prieto and his colleagues have requested permission from Peru’s Ministry of Culture to take samples of the bones abroad for further testing and dating. Other skeletons unearthed at the site have been dated to between A.D. 1100 and 1200, when the Chimu people flourished in the region. To read about shark burials uncovered at Pampa la Cruz, go to "Remembering the Shark Hunters."
