Peru will open a museum to preserve and display the recently discovered remains of the world's greatest sacrifice of children offered in a ritual by a pre-Columbian people 550 years ago.
AFP Up to now were found the remains of 251 miners aged 5 to 15 years near a cliff on the Pacific, in an area where the pre-Columbian Chimu civilization s & # 39; is extended between 900 and 1450 until it is absorbed by the Inca Empire
Architects and engineers develop the design of the museum, "who will receive the remains that are in good condition and can be moved "from where they were discovered, said José Ruiz at AFP. Mayor of Huanchaco, a coastal municipality next to the city of Trujillo in the north, the third in Peru.
Now they can have a safe place, away from looters, so that they can rest, Ruiz added, stating that there will also be a laboratory. surveys.
Photo: AFP
The remains of children and some 200 lamas were originally discovered in the region of Huanchaquito and more recently in the neighboring Pampa La Cruz. The children were buried vertically, one next to the other, with a vase, a kind of whistles, textiles and food.
The children were buried watching the sea and the animals in the east. The museum will be built very close to the site of discovery and its construction will begin in six months and will cost two million dollars with the support of the Ministry of Culture, explained Ruiz [19659008] Court in the sternum
Photo: AFP
As work progresses in Pampa La Cruz, an area of brick dwellings, we still find bone remains, told AFP the archaeologist Gabriel Prieto, who directs the excavations. June the researcher announced the discovery of other 56 miners in Pampa La Cruz most of them in a site used as a dump and shelter for stray dogs.
The children were sacrificed with a cut in the sternum and showed the ribs open like in Huanchaquito, says this archaeologist at the National University of Trujillo
The excavations are centered on a ditch 300 meters long near the houses.
I live here about ten years ago and when we built the house, we never found anything, "said María Guardamino, a local resident.
The results confirm that we have the greatest sacrifice of children in the world. 19659015] In Huanchaquito, near Pampa La Cruz, the remains of 140 children and 200 lamas
offered in a ritual were initially discovered .
Tests with radiocarbon on ropes and textiles date the found objects in the graves between the years 1400 and 1450, when the Chimu kingdom began to decline due to the expansion of the Inca empire, which Then submit it
Rewrite History
Photo: AFP
Pampa La Cruz was a cemetery exclusively for slaughtered children, so we have some rescue and research work for the next six years, Prieto explained.
However, in the region, there are houses ] 20 years which makes it difficult to continue archaeological excavations
There is a project to rescue the site, the mayor has to reconcile with residents to withdraw and expand the work, said Prieto. 19659015] Archaeologists have a Plan B in case the museum project does not prosper.
Photo: AFP
"If the construction of the museum is delayed, once the records and valuations of the remains have been completed and the objects removed, they will again be adequately buried for their preservation and security will be ensured to prevent looting." declared archeologist Ferén Castillo. In addition, the remains in good condition will be transferred to the University of Trujillo for studies, he added.
In announcing the discovery of the biggest child sacrifice in the world in Huanchaquito last April, National Geographic said that this conclusion required a review of history.
He explained that "until now, the greatest available evidence is the ritual sacrifice and burial of 42 children in the Templo Mayor ] in the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlán ", currently Mexico City
