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Ancient "Human Sacrifices" Found in Peru, Expert Says
from National Geographic News
Three possible human sacrifice victims have been found at a 4,000-year-old archaeological site in Peru, an archaeologist says.
The apparently mutilated, partial skeletons could overturn the peaceful reputation of the Pre-Ceramic period (3000 B.C. to 1800 B.C.) in the Andes mountains -- a time generally seen as free of ritualized killing and warfare.
Outside experts caution, however, that such claims remain unproven. Alejandro Chu Barrera, who led the dig, said: "We found two pairs of legs -- probably young females around their 20s -- and the decapitated body of a young male in his 20s. They appear to have been ritually killed." Chu directs the Archaeological Project of Bandurria at the 133-acre site 90 miles (140 kilometers) outside of present-day Lima.
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