New Form of Ancient Ritual Sacrifice Involving Close Relatives Revealed

Archaeologists have revealed a previously undocumented form of ritual sacrifice involving close relatives among the elites of an ancient culture.

For a study published in the journal PNAS, a team of researchers analyzed a number of previously discovered burials associated with the pre-Hispanic Moche archaeological culture, which flourished along the north coast of what is now Peru between the 4th and 10th centuries.

The culture was characterized by sophisticated urban developments, as well as a complex social hierarchy dominated by political and religious elites. Previous archaeological evidence has suggested that kinship was a key factor in maintaining political authority within Moche society.

To test this idea, the study authors examined familial relationships between six individuals buried together in a pyramid-like, painted temple made from adobe known as Huaca Cao Viejo at the El Brujo archaeological complex in northern Peru's Chicama Valley.

The enclosure where the burials were found within the Huaca Cao Viejo temple at the El Brujo archaeological complex in Peru. A study has revealed that the interred people were related to each other. Jeffrey Quilter

These individuals, discovered in 2005, appear to have been members of the Moche elite who were buried together across four tombs around the year A.D. 500.

Three of the four tombs were each found to contain an adult male and a number of grave goods, with one also housing the flexed body of a young person. The juvenile had a cord around his neck indicating death by strangulation—a known form of human sacrifice in the Moche culture.

The remaining tomb, which is separate from the others, held the well-preserved remains of a female adult, now commonly referred to as the Señora de Cao. She had been wrapped in more than 20 layers of textiles and offerings, including ceremonial spear-throwers, two large ceremonial clubs, gold crowns and nose ornaments, as well as various other items.

By the remains of the Señora, a sacrificed juvenile female with a rope around her neck was also found. The nature of the burial and the items found within the tomb suggest that the Señora de Cao was a woman of very high status.

"The Señora burial is significant as the best-preserved elite burial found in Peru to date, and using the archaeological dictum that the amount of energy expenditure in tomb construction and offerings indicates relative social rank, the Señora had the highest status among the other burials, although all the main burials were of high status given that they were interred in the temple," the authors wrote in the study.

The results of the team's analysis revealed that all six individuals were biologically related, with varying degrees of kinship, in a family tree spanning at least four generations.

The data indicates that the juvenile sacrificed and buried with the Señora de Cao was possibly her niece, while at least one and potentially two siblings and a grandparent lay in the separate tombs nearby. According to the study, one of the male siblings was also accompanied in death by his sacrificed son.

Isotopic analysis indicated that most individuals had diets rich in maize and marine animal protein, and likely spent their childhoods in or near the Chicama Valley. But the sacrificed juvenile buried with the Señora appears to have had a distinct diet and geographic origin.

The results demonstrate that Moche elites were interred with family members, including some raised far from their parental homes.

"This supports the hypothesis that kinship was central to transmitting status and authority. Moreover, sacrificing family members to accompany deceased elites underscores the significance of ritual sacrifice in reinforcing familial ties and linking the deceased to both ancestors and the divine," the authors wrote in the study.

Of particular significance are the close genetic relationships observed between the sacrificed juveniles and the other burials.

"While the practice of human sacrifice and even sacrificial mass events have been well established in the archaeological record for the Moche and other Peruvian groups, no similar closely related sacrifices have previously been considered for the Moche," the authors wrote.

"A report from the Colonial Period provides an example of a father who sacrificed a daughter in Inca times, but in a different context a thousand years later and a thousand kilometers distant from the Moche of the north coast of Peru."

The latest findings provide new insights into Moche social organization, burial practices and kinship-based politics.

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Reference

Quilter, J., Harkins, K., Jordan, R. F., Marsh, E., Prieto, G., Verano, J., LeBlanc, S., Broomandkhoshbacht, N., Krigbaum, J., & Fehren-Schmitz, L. (2024). Family relations of Moche elite burials on the North Coast of Peru (~500 CE): Analyses of the Señora de Cao and relatives. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 122(1). https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2416321121