La cultura chimú se basó en gran medida en la agricultura, para lo cual realizaron inmensas obras de ingeniería de riego que crearon una gran red de canales hidráulicos, que llevaban el agua desde las montañas hasta los campos, palacios y templos, según un artículo de 2019 de Ancient Origins . Los Chimú también produjeron extraordinarios textiles y objetos de oro, plata y cobre. La sociedad chimú estaba muy estratificada y se extendía desde los campesinos en la parte inferior hasta los nobles en la parte superior.
Although now an uninhabitable water-scarce region, Chan Chan, the powerful Chimu culture capital, was once an extensive city that covered over 14 square miles (36 square kilometers). Adobe brick architecture was used to create streets, lofty walls, reservoirs, pyramids, and houses. At its peak Chan Chan’s population likely numbered in the thousands.
In 1465-70 AD, the Chimu were conquered by the Inca ruler Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui and his son Topa Inca Yupanqui . Many elements of Chimu culture, from political organization to irrigation and road engineering, were incorporated into the Inca imperial system after their conquest of the Chimu.
Recent excavations at the north Peruvian Pampa La Cruz site during which 76 more child sacrifices were found. ( andina / Huanchaco Archaeological Program)
Earlier Child Sacrifice Discoveries in Pampa La Cruz Region
Human sacrifice remains, particularly of children, have been discovered multiple times in the Pampa La Cruz region, indicating that this was a common practice among the Chimu. Pampa La Cruz is about 155 miles (250 kilometers) southeast of Chan Chan.
Remains of hundreds of children were found at the Pampa La Cruz site in 2018 and 2019. Feren Castillo, the chief archaeologist at the site, is quoted by the Guardian as saying in 2019, “This is the biggest site where the remains of sacrificed children have been found. There isn’t another like it anywhere else in the world. It’s uncontrollable, this thing with the children. Wherever you dig, there’s another one.”
Although archaeological work in Huanchaco started in 2011, the first findings were only published in 2018. Researchers reported the discovery of the sacrificed remains of 140 children and 200 llamas from Huanchaquito in April 2018. In June 2018, another 56 human skeletons were found in the neighboring site of Pampa La Cruz.
The archaeologists also found the remains of small footprints that survived rain and erosion . The footprints suggest that the children were marched, likely from Chan Chan, to meet their grisly end at these numerous sacrificial sites.
According to experts in this field, the sacrifices were made to appease the gods when heavy El Nino rains caused flooding.
A recently unearthed child sacrifice skeleton, at the bottom of this image, is vivid and the teeth are all perfect. ( andina / Huanchaco Archaeological Program)
The Andina news agency reports that radiocarbon dating has established that there were six separate child sacrifice events carried out over more than 450 years in the Pampa La Cruz area. The six events, dated to between 1050 and 1500, were associated with important junctures in the founding, development and consolidation of Chimu development.
The latest 76 skeletons were unearthed during the July-August excavation period. Of these, 25 graves were found in Mound I and the other 51 were uncovered in Mound II. The most curious discovery was the tomb of five females buried sitting head to head in a loose circle. This tomb was unearthed in Mound I. Experts have yet to come up with an explanation for this unusual burial.
Gabriel Prieto, the head of the Huanchaco Archaeological Program (Pahuan), who is a researcher at the University of Florida, told the Andina news agency that the earliest child sacrificial event occurred around AD 1050.
Todos los entierros de niños de Huanchaco compartían una cosa más, además de su fin sacrificial. Todos fueron enterrados con los pies hacia el este y la cabeza hacia el oeste. En esa posición habrían tenido el océano, el Océano Pacífico, detrás de ellos y habrían estado de cara al sol naciente.
Si bien las culturas pasadas no deben verse a través del prisma de la sensibilidad moderna, es difícil imaginar que el sacrificio masivo de niños no cause un trauma generalizado en ninguna sociedad. ¿Cuál pudo haber sido la razón o razón de peso por la que los Chimú sacrificaron a tantos de sus jóvenes?
