Burial Garments of a Chimu Child Sacrifice from Pampa La Cruz, Huanchaco, Peru

Summary

The site of Pampa la Cruz, located in Peru’s northern coast in Huanchaco, is situated just north of the ancient Chimu capital of Chan Chan. A multi-component site with occupations from the Salinar, Gallinazo, and Chimu eras (400 BC – AD 1470), excavations in 2016 recovered Chimu child sacrifices. Each body was interred wearing multiple garments, including mantles, loincloths, and tunics. Environmental and soil conditions enabled the preservation of these textiles. In July 2017 students in the MOCHE Inc Conservation Program completed a preliminary study of these textiles and carried out stabilization measures. In this poster we analyze a set of clothing one child sacrifice was interred in. The set includes a hat, head wrappings, a mantle, a loincloth, and a tunic. Through an analysis of the weaving technology of this set of clothing and comparison to other Chimu textiles, this research provides insight into Chimu sacrifice practices.

Cite this Record

Burial Garments of a Chimu Child Sacrifice from Pampa La Cruz, Huanchaco, Peru. Natalie Carpiaux, Alicia Boswell, Jessica Walthew, Gabriel Prieto. Presented at The 82nd Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Washington, DC. 2018 ( tDAR id: 443415)

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

Spatial Coverage

min long: -82.441; min lat: -56.17 ; max long: -64.863; max lat: 16.636 ;

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 21005