[OANNES Foro] Huanchaco: Ancient Shark Fishermen Found Buried with Extra Limbs

[Mario Cabrejos]

Archaeologists are stumped why these 1,900-year-old Peruvians were buried
with bonus body parts—in one case, with two extra left legs.

Ancient Shark Fishermen Found Buried with Extra Limbs

BY  <https://www.nationalgeographic.com/contributors/r/kristin-romey.html>
KRISTIN ROMEY

APRIL 13, 2018

https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2018/04/peru-viru-ancient-shark-fisherme
n-archaeology/?beta=true

DOZENS OF "VERY unique" ancient burials have been discovered on the northern
Peruvian coast, many of which appear to contain valuable metal objects,
whimsical ceramic pots, and—in some cases—additional human limbs.

According to Victor Campaña, current director of the Las Lomas Rescue
Project, more than 50 burials belonging to the Virú culture have been
discovered in the town of Huanchaco, seven miles north of the regional
capital of Trujillo.

The burials were uncovered during recent salvage excavations performed ahead
of water and sewage infrastructure work in the small seaside town.

The little-known Virú culture, named for the Virú Valley which runs from the
Andes mountains to the Pacific, thrived in the area between A.D. 100 and
750, before the  <https://www.ancient.eu/Moche_Civilization/> Moche took
control of the region. Campaña's excavations have revealed a small coastal
settlement along with the burials.

“It’s a complex little fishing village," he says.

There's particular complexity in many of the burials, Campaña adds, noting
that around 30 of the 54 mostly adult burials appear to include not only
complete skeletons, but also additional body parts. Most of the bonus limbs
appear to be arms and legs. In one case, an adult was buried intact, along
with two additional left legs interred right beside the body.

While more scientific analysis is needed to determine the age and sex of the
burials, a preliminary study indicates that many sets of remains show
evidence of trauma, including cut marks and blunt-force injury. The
individuals who had suffered trauma were also most likely to have been
buried with additional limbs, says Campaña.

Later Moche burials often feature individuals buried with missing limbs, or
with additional complete sacrificial victims, notes Gabriel Prieto,
scientific director of the current rescue project in Huanchaco. However, the
practice of burying the dead with extra body parts is "very unique to Virú,"
he says.

A similar practice was discovered in the early 2000s with a much smaller set
of Virú burials excavated at El Castillo Santa, south of Trujillo, Prieto
adds.

At this time, the archaeologists can only speculate about the motivation
behind the unusual Virú burials. One suggestion is that the extra limbs may
have served as a sacrificial offering to accompany the dead to the
afterlife. Additional lab work will determine if there was any sort of
relation between the individuals buried and the owners of the additional
body parts.

A Legacy of Fishermen

The Virú burials also feature a variety of grave goods, including ceramic
vessels decorated with human faces and whimsical animal details, jewelry,
and folded copper sheets inserted into the mouths or the hands of the
deceased. Among Campaña's most interesting find so far is a very large
(four-inch-long) copper fish hook wrapped with gold foil.

The size of the hook is appropriate for snaring large fish and sharks, a
practice with a very long tradition in this northern Peruvian coastal
region.

In 2010, Prieto discovered a 3,500-year-old
<http://www.peruviantimes.com/22/archaeologists-find-temple-used-by-ancient-
shark-hunters/22544/> temple used by shark hunters in the Huanchaco area.
Evidence for
<https://festival.si.edu/2015/peru/crafts/reed-rafts/smithsonian> Caballitos
de Totora, reed boats still used by the fishermen of Huanchaco to this day,
goes back at least four millennia.

José Ruiz Vega, mayor of Huanchaco district, says he's proud to lead one of
the last towns in Peru with an ancient fishing tradition that has continued
unbroken for thousands of years to modern times.

He also takes the frequent interruption of his infrastructure projects in
stride, and hopes to create a center that will highlight the resulting
archaeological finds.

"A museum for Huanchaco will [not only] represent an economic opportunity
for the locals to attract more tourists," Mayor Ruiz says, "but also an
important institution to educate our people, and to show them the amazing
treasures buried literally beneath their houses."

 



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