Peru: skeletons of 227 victims unearthed at world's largest child sacrifice site

[Judi Lynn]

Experts believe the children were sacrificed by the Chimú culture to appease the El Niño phenomenon

Sam Jones and agencies
@swajones
Thu 29 Aug 2019 11.25 EDT

Archaeologists excavating what is thought to be the world’s largest child sacrifice site have unearthed the skeletons of 227 young victims in the coastal desert of northern Peru.

Teams have been digging since last year at the sacrificial site in Huanchaco, a beachside tourist town close to Trujillo, Peru’s third largest city.

Experts believe the children, who were aged between four and 14, were sacrificed by the Chimú culture to placate the gods as rains and floods caused by the El Niño weather pattern battered the Peruvian coastline.

“This is the biggest site where the remains of sacrificed children have been found,” chief archaeologist Feren Castillo told AFP on Tuesday. “There isn’t another like it anywhere else in the world.”

He said the children had been sacrificed to appease the El Niño phenomenon and showed signs of being killed during wet weather.

More:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/aug/29/peru-huanchaco-sacrificial-site-skeletons

[Farmer-Rick]

1. How awful

Just another atrocity supported by religion on behalf of imaginary gods.