A mass sacrifice of children and camelids at the Huanchaquito-Las Llamas site, Moche Valley, Peru

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 14; no. 3; p. e0211691
• Main Authors: Prieto, Gabriel, Verano, John W., Goepfert, Nicolas, Kennett, Douglas, Quilter, Jeffrey, LeBlanc, Steven, Fehren-Schmitz, Lars, Forst, Jannine, Lund, Mellisa, Dement, Brittany, Dufour, Elise, Tombret, Olivier, Calmon, Melina, Gadison, Davette, Tschinkel, Khrystyne
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 06.03.2019; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: 15th century; Advertising executives; Animals; Archaeological dating; Archaeology; Archaeology - methods; Biological anthropology; Biology and Life Sciences; Camelids; Camelids, New World - physiology; Carbon - chemistry; Ceremonial Behavior; Child; Children; Deoxyribonucleic acid; DNA; DNA sequencers; Earth Sciences; Environment; Excavation; Female; Flooding; Floods; Genetic research; Girls; Heavy rainfall; Historic buildings & sites; Humanities and Social Sciences; Humans; Interdisciplinary studies; Laboratories; Male; Mass murder; Medicine and Health Sciences; Minority & ethnic groups; Motivation; Museums; Nitrogen - chemistry; Ostomy; People and Places; Peru; Physical Sciences; Radiocarbon dating; Radiometric dating; Radiometric Dating - methods; Rain; Rainfall; Research and Analysis Methods; Social Sciences; Stable isotopes; Stratigraphy; Thoracic surgery; Peru; California; France; United States > US; Archaeology; Deformation; Valleys; Collagens; Radioactive carbon dating; Children; Peru; Osteology

Here we report the results of excavation and interdisciplinary study of the largest child and camelid sacrifice known from the New World. Stratigraphy, associated artifacts, and radiocarbon dating indicate that it was a single mass killing of more than 140 children and over 200 camelids directed by...