Nearly 200 human spines found threaded onto posts in Peru
Examples of human vertebrae on posts, found in Peru's Chincha Valley, are shown.
(CNN)Almost 200 examples of human spines threaded onto reed posts have been discovered in Peru, revealing a unique way of treating the dead that has never previously been documented in the region, according to a new study.
An
international team of researchers working in the Chincha Valley, on
Peru's southern coast, found the majority of the "vertebrae-on-posts" in
large Indigenous graves known as "chullpas," which date back hundreds
of years to around the time that European colonizers were present in the
South American country.
Of
the 192 spines found on posts in the region, archaeologists found that,
in almost every case, they were made from the remains of a single
individual, according to the study published Tuesday in the archaeology
journal Antiquity.
It appears that adults and juveniles in the Indigenous community were the ones chosen for this unique practice and, according to researchers, the "vertebrae-on-posts" are thought to have been created between 1450 and 1650 -- as the Inca rule came to an end and European colonization became widespread and dominant in the region.
Indigenous graves known as "chullpas," where the spines were threaded on posts, were discovered by archaeologists.
Jacob
L. Bongers, lead author of the study, said this particular period was
"turbulent" in the history of the Chincha Valley, as "epidemics and
famines decimated local people."
Before
the arrival of the Europeans, the Chincha Valley had been home to the
Chincha Kingdom from 1000 to 1400 and had even established an alliance
with the powerful Inca Empire. But as European colonizers swept into the
region, the population was decimated as it declined from more than
30,000 heads of household in 1533 to just 979 by 1583.
Bongers,
a senior research associate in archaeology at the University of East
Anglia in the United Kingdom, has also documented the looting of
hundreds of graves in the region in previous research.
A vertebrae-on-post was inserted into a cranium, as found within a "chullpa."
"Looting
of indigenous graves was widespread across the Chincha Valley in the
colonial period. Looting was primarily intended to remove grave goods
made of gold and silver and would have gone hand in hand with European
efforts to eradicate indigenous religious practices and funerary
customs," Bongers said in a news release.
Analysis
of the spines on the posts suggests that they might have been created
to repair the damage done to the dead by looting, the study said.
Radiocarbon dating conducted by the research team shows the threading of
the spine onto the reed posts occurred after the initial burial of the
bodies.
"These
'vertebrae-on-posts' were likely made to reconstruct the dead in
response to grave looting," Bongers said. "Our findings suggest that
vertebrae-on-posts represent a direct, ritualized, and indigenous
response to European colonialism."
For
many Indigenous groups in the Chincha Valley, bodily integrity after
death was of high importance. According to the study, the Indigenous
peoples of the region were involved in unique treatments of the dead --
the nearby Chinchorro people developed the first known techniques for
artificial mummification, millennia before ancient Egyptians practiced
this funerary rite.
The Chincha Valley on the southern coast of Peru is where the discoveries were made.
When
mummies in the mountainous Andes area were destroyed by European
colonizers, Indigenous groups salvaged what they could of the decimated
remains to make new ritual objects.
The
spines on the posts found in the Chincha Valley may represent a similar
attempt to reconstruct the damaged dead and bodily integrity after
looting.
"Ritual
plays important roles in social and religious life, yet can become
contested, especially during periods of conquest in which new power
relationships become established," Bongers said. "These finds reinforce
how graves are one area where this conflict plays out."
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