"Chilling" Child Sacrifices Found at Prehistoric Site The skeletons of dozens of children killed as part of a ritual bloodletting sacrifice a thousand years ago have been discovered in northern Peru, a new study says. The remains are the earliest evidence of ritualized blood sacrifice and mutilation of children that has so far been seen in the South American Andes, according to study leader Haagen Klaus. Seeds of a paralytic and hallucinogenic plant called Nectandra, which also prevents blood clotting, were found with the skeletons, suggesting the children were drugged before their throats were slit and their chests cut open. During the sacrifices, sharp bronze knives were used to hack the children to death. One skeleton had more than 25 cut marks on it. "It is so beyond what is necessary to kill a person. "But we are trying to understand this on their terms, not ours." Sacrifice Children Not Considered Human? It's unclear why their chests were cut open, but it may have been to cut out their hearts, Klaus said. Maggots Part of Reverent Burial
Terracotta army emerges in its true colors By Ma Lie (China Daily) Updated: 2010-09-09 09:30 China-Germany alliance has helped keep the glow on warriors' cheeks. Ma Lie reports from Xi'an. The earth in the ancient city of Xi'an continues to astound archaeologists. When excavation work to find more terracotta relics restarted for the third time last year in Xi'an, archaeologists admitted they did not expect to make any groundbreaking discoveries. Researchers suggested that the No 1 pit, the largest of the three that surround the tomb of China's first emperor Qin Shihuang (259-210 BC), was in a worse condition than the other two and not likely to offer rich pickings. However, the experts were more than happy to be proven wrong. Along with the more than 114 broken figures unearthed since digging resumed in June last year, the discovery of three "suitcases" made of a silk-like fabric has offered clues on the textile industry during the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC).
"Lost" Language Found on Back of 400-Year-Old Letter Notes on the back of a 400-year-old letter have revealed a previously unknown language once spoken by indigenous peoples of northern Peru , an archaeologist says. Penned by an unknown Spanish author and lost for four centuries, the battered piece of paper was pulled from the ruins of an ancient Spanish colonial church in 2008. But a team of scientists and linguists has only recently revealed the importance of the words written on the flip side of the letter. The early 17th-century author had translated Spanish numbers—uno, dos, tres—and Arabic numerals into a mysterious language never seen by modern scholars. (Related: " 'Lost' Languages to Be Resurrected by Computers"? "Even though [the letter] doesn't tell us a whole lot, it does tell us about a language that is very different from anything we've ever known—and it suggests that there may be a lot more out there," said project leader Jeffrey Quilter , an archaeologist at Harvard’s Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology.
Mysterious tunnel found under Mexican ruins - Technology & science - Science TEOTIHUACAN, Mexico — A long-sealed tunnel has been found under the ruins of Teotihuacan, and chambers that seem to branch off it may hold the tombs of some of the ancient city's early rulers. Experts say a tomb discovery would be significant. because the social structure of Teotihuacan remains a mystery after nearly 100 years of archaeological exploration at the site, which is best known for the towering Pyramids of the Moon and the Sun. No depiction of a ruler, or the tomb of a monarch, has ever been found, setting the metropolis apart from other pre-Hispanic cultures that deified their rulers. Archaeologists had suspected the hidden tunnel was there after a heavy rainstorm in 2003 caused the ground to sink at the foot of the Temple of Quetzacoatl, in the central ceremonial area of the ruins just north of Mexico City. Starting last year, they began digging, and after eight months of excavation, they reached the roof of the tunnel last month, 40 feet (12 meters) below the surface.
ARROWHEADS -- How To Make Your Own Egypt archaeologists discover huge tomb near Cairo Archaeologists in Egypt have said they have discovered the largest known tomb in the ancient necropolis of Sakkara, to the south of Cairo. The tomb dates back 2,500 years to the 26th Dynasty and contains important artefacts, including mummified eagles. It is one of two newly discovered tombs found by an Egyptian team working close to the entrance of Sakkara, the burial ground for Egypt's ancient capital. The tomb consists of a big hall hewn out of the limestone rock. There are a number of small rooms and passageways where ancient coffins, skeletons and well-preserved clay pots were discovered, as well as the mummies of eagles. Egypt's chief archaeologist, Zahi Hawass, who announced the discovery, said that early investigations showed that although the tomb dated back to the 26th Dynasty, it had been used several times. He said it was most likely to have been robbed at the end of the Roman period.
Archeology in Peru Exploring Chavín de Huántar The point of this web site is to introduce you to the site of Chavín de Huántar through virtual reality and a variety of photographs integrated within that experience, and help you ponder some of the big questions that archaeologists face with such data. Chavín de Huántar is located in Peru, 250 km to the north of Lima, and has long been a site of public interest and archaeological inquiry. To explore the site of Chavín de Huántar we have assembled this site in a particular order that we think will make sense to the user. You probably will want to read the 'Home' introduction to understand the site's cultural background, and follow on to the Setting section to get a sense of the environmental context of the site. Then you are ready to visit the site itself. You will need the RealSpace plug-in to view the panoramas - Click here for download and navigation instructions.
What is a Khipu Most of the existing khipu are from the Inka period, approx 1400 – 1532 CE. The Inka empire stretched from Ecuador through central Chile, with its heart in Cuzco, a city in the high Andes of southern Peru. Colonial documents indicate that khipu were used for record keeping and sending messages by runner throughout the empire. There are approximately 600 khipu surviving in museums and private collections around the world. Photo Courtesy of Peabody Museum, Harvard University The word khipu comes from the Quechua word for “knot" and denotes both singular and plural. Each khipu cord may have one or many knots.
Gobekli Tepe - Paradise Regained? | Articles Klaus Schmidt shows a wild boar carving on one the stones. I am in a rusty Turkish taxi. Ahead of me, the brown hills roll endlessly towards Syria; from my car I can see a little village of mud houses and open drains.It’s not the most auspicious of places. Yet, if reports are correct, I am heading for the most amazing archæological dig in the world. Even more remarkable, this site might be intimately connected with the Biblical story of the Garden of Eden. Finally, my swearing cabbie scrapes us round another corner, and I see a solitary mulberry tree, stark against the cloudless sky. I climb out of the car, and a genial, 50-something German man approaches. Shaking my hand, Schmidt leads me away from the main dig. The modern history of Gobekli Tepe (the second word is pronounced tepp-ay; the phrase means “the hill of the navel” in Turkish) begins in 1964, when a team of American archæologists was combing this remote province of southeast Turkey. He stayed. Temple of the Hunt After the Fall