Biodistance Comparisons for the Chimú-Era (AD 1000–1450) Child Sacrificial Remains from Pampa la Cruz, Huanchaco, North Coast of Peru: A Preliminary Report

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Here we report dentally derived biodistance results for 120 Chimú-era (AD 1000–1450) children from three of six temporally discrete sacrificial events—specifically events 1, 4, and 5, at Pampa la Cruz (PLC), Huanchaco, Perú, which we compare with a late Chimú-Inka affiliated skeletal sample (n = 44) from the nearby cemetery at Iglesia Colonial, Huanchaco, as well as nine additional previously reported skeletal samples from the north coast of Peru. Our preliminary results suggest that the PLC sacrificed children from each of the events were not drawn from local Chimú people, but—instead—likely came from other coastal populations of Peru that were under control of the Chimú. Examination of FST derived estimates of sample variabilities suggest that the children from each episode were drawn from a variety of locations, likely from regions conquered during the Chimú Empire’s expansion. These preliminary biodistance results lend support to interpretations based on clothing and grave offerings associated with the children sacrificed during each of the discrete events. We discuss the relevance of these results as they relate to the Chimú Empire’s offeratory practices, political expansion, and population control policies.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts   •
• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 36265.0