Researchers Discover Ruins Of Entire City In Peru

Wednesday, December 24, 2008
AHN Staff Lima, Peru (AHN) - Researchers discovered then ruins of an entire city in northern Peru, which could provide the missing link between the old cultures of the Wari people and the Moche civilization.
The find is located near the city of Chiclayo, estimated to date back to the Wari culture which ruled the Andes from the 7th to the 12th century. The ancient city indicated human sacrifices were made.
It confirms earlier findings by forensic anthropologist John Verano from Tulane University in New Orleans and published by the National Geographic in 2002, that skeletal remains he found in the valleys of lowland Peru underwent brutal deaths. Some were skinned alive, while others had their bloods drained, heads chopped or tied up and left to be consumed alive by vultures.
Cesar Soriano, chief archeologist of the research team, theorized the victims were thrown over a nearby cliff.
Aside from skeletal remains, also discovered by the archeological team were ceramics, clothing and remains of a young woman.
The National Geographic's theories were that under the Moche culture people were sacrificed to please their gods and improve their land's fertility or the skeletal remains belong to victims of Moche executioners who won after a fierce power struggle between rival city-states.