TRUJILLO, PERU—According to an Andina report, the 1,500-year-old remains of a child estimated to have been about 18 months old at the time of death have been uncovered in a residential area at the site of Huacas de Moche, which is located in northern Peru. Carlos Rengifo of the Huacas de Moche Archaeological Project and the National University of Trujillo said that the child had been buried with two whistles, a rattle, and a sculptured ceramic vessel. It is not clear if the sound-producing objects in the burial were used as toys. Archaeologist Jermi Mejía López added that the child’s head was facing to the south and the legs to the north, a pattern often observed in Moche burials, even though most burials at the site have been discovered in ceremonial monuments. The area will be backfilled with clean sand to protect it. To read about changing burial customs in northern Peru as the Moche culture waned, go to "Women in a Temple of Death."
