ArticlePloS one2019
A mass sacrifice of children and camelids at the Huanchaquito-Las Llamas site, Moche Valley, Peru.
Article in PloS one, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.
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7 citing papers in PubMed.
- Estimating Mean Growth Trajectories When Measurements Are Sparse and Age Is Uncertain.American journal of biological anthropology · 2026Article
- Ancient DNA reveals a family ossuary and long-distance migration on the Pacific coast before the Inca Empire.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Family relations of Moche elite burials on the North Coast of Peru (~500 CE): Analyses of the Señora de Cao and relatives.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025Article
- Article
- South American Archaeological Isotopic Database, a regional-scale multi-isotope data compendium for research.Scientific data · 2024Article
- Ancient genomes reveal long-range influence of the pre-Columbian culture and site of Tiwanaku.Science advances · 2021Article
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15 authors.
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Abstract
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 the Chimú state, c. AD 1450. Preliminary DNA analysis indicates that both boys and girls were chosen for sacrifice. Variability in forms of cranial modification (head shaping) and stable isotope analysis of carbon and nitrogen suggest that the children were a heterogeneous sample drawn from multiple regions and ethnic groups throughout the Chimú state. The Huanchaquito-Las Llamas mass sacrifice opens a new window on a previously unknown sacrificial ritual from fifteenth century northern coastal Peru. While the motivation for such a massive sacrifice is a subject for further research, there is archaeological evidence that it was associated with a climatic event (heavy rainfall and flooding) that could have impacted the economic, political and ideological stability of one of the most powerful states in the New World during the fifteenth century A.D.
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