Archeologists in Peru say the 227 bodies they have unearthed from a site used by the pre-Columbian Chimu culture is the biggest-ever discovery of sacrificed children. Archeologists have been digging since last year at the huge sacrificial site in Huanchaco, a beachside tourist town north of the capital Lima. "This is the biggest site where the remains of sacrificed children have been found," chief archeologist Feren Castillo told AFP on Tuesday.<br /><br />Castillo said the children, who were aged between four and 14, were sacrificed in a ritual to honor the Chimu culture's gods.<br /><br />"They were sacrificed to appease the El Nino phenomenon," and show signs of being killed during wet weather, he said.<br /><br />He added that there may still be more to be found.<br /><br />"It's uncontrollable, this thing with the children. Wherever you dig, there's another one," Castillo said.<br /><br />The children's remains were found in a position facing the sea. Some still had skin and hair.<br /><br />Huanchaco was a site where many child sacrifices took place during the time of the Chimu culture, whose apogee was between 1200 and 1400.<br /><br />Archeologists first found children's bodies at the dig site in the town's Pampa la Cruz neighborhood in June 2018, unearthing 56 skeletons.<br />An August 27, 2019 photo from Programa Arquelogico Huanchacho shows the remains of two of the 227 children uncovered by archaeologists in the Pampa La Cruz neighborhood of Huanchaco, a coastal district of Trujillo, Peru<br /><br />Pampa la Cruz is a short distance from Huanchaquito, where the remains of 140 sacrificed children and 200 llamas were found in April 2018.<br /><br />The Chimu civilization extended along the Peruvian coast to Ecuador but disappeared in 1475 after it was conquered by the Inca empire. <br /><br />Music: Kaddish (Instrumental Version) by Dhruva Aliman<br />https://dhruvaaliman.bandcamp.com/album/hard-to-get-along<br />http://www.dhruvaaliman.com/<br />Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/artist/5XiFCr9iBKE6Cupltgnlet<br /><br />#Archeology #Ancient #Discovery<br /><br />
