TY - JOUR
T1 - Reconstructing the sequence of an Inca Period (1470-1532 CE) camelid sacrifice at El Pacífico, Peru
AU - Flores-Blanco, Luis
AU - Altamirano, Alfredo J.
AU - Villacorta, Marco
AU - Capriles, José M.
AU - Estrada, Flavio
AU - Herrera, Katia
AU - Llosa, Melchor
AU - Chávez, Eduardo
AU - Alarcón, Carmela
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 The Author(s)
PY - 2022/2
Y1 - 2022/2
N2 - Animal sacrifice has played an important role as a material expression of the ritual behavior practiced by different societies around the world. In the South American Andes, the ceremonial immolation of llamas is well documented by both ethnohistoric and ethnographic sources. Nevertheless, archaeological evidence of animal sacrifice remains poorly documented. In this paper, we report the burial of two young camelids from El Pacífico, a Formative Period ceremonial site located on the central coast of Peru. AMS radiocarbon dates suggest the ritual sacrifice occurred when the architecture of the site was no longer in use, around the time of the Inca conquest. Based on the presence of cut marks and fly pupae, we suggest that one of the camelids, a yearling llama, was sacrificed by removal of its heart and buried shortly thereafter. Similarly, given the location of cut marks and representation of skeletal parts, we infer that the second camelid was slaughtered for human consumption prior to burial. In accordance with documented Andean rites, archaeological evidence from El Pacifico suggests that practitioners of camelid sacrifice followed a behavioral script following the selection of the animal to its final interment. We hypothesize the costly performance of this ceremony at an ancestral sacred site was part of a social and political strategy for promoting intergroup social cohesion during the arrival of the Incas to the region.
AB - Animal sacrifice has played an important role as a material expression of the ritual behavior practiced by different societies around the world. In the South American Andes, the ceremonial immolation of llamas is well documented by both ethnohistoric and ethnographic sources. Nevertheless, archaeological evidence of animal sacrifice remains poorly documented. In this paper, we report the burial of two young camelids from El Pacífico, a Formative Period ceremonial site located on the central coast of Peru. AMS radiocarbon dates suggest the ritual sacrifice occurred when the architecture of the site was no longer in use, around the time of the Inca conquest. Based on the presence of cut marks and fly pupae, we suggest that one of the camelids, a yearling llama, was sacrificed by removal of its heart and buried shortly thereafter. Similarly, given the location of cut marks and representation of skeletal parts, we infer that the second camelid was slaughtered for human consumption prior to burial. In accordance with documented Andean rites, archaeological evidence from El Pacifico suggests that practitioners of camelid sacrifice followed a behavioral script following the selection of the animal to its final interment. We hypothesize the costly performance of this ceremony at an ancestral sacred site was part of a social and political strategy for promoting intergroup social cohesion during the arrival of the Incas to the region.
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U2 - 10.1016/j.jasrep.2021.103247
DO - 10.1016/j.jasrep.2021.103247
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85119917742
SN - 2352-409X
VL - 41
JO - Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports
JF - Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports
M1 - 103247
ER -