Five Horrifying Archaeological Discoveries of Human Sacrifice 5. Mass Female Sacrifice in China The Neolithic city of Shimao, founded about 4,300 years ago was inhabited for 300 years. In the ruins of this ancient stone town, archaeologists made a grisly discovery of over 80 human skulls of young women —with no bodies in sight. Examination of the skulls showed evidence of violent deaths involving blunt objects and fire. 4. Moche Temple In Peru The Moche people thrived between 100 and 800 AD in Peru. Moche warriors brought captives to adobe and brick temples, where priests oversaw their deaths. These sacrificial practices were widespread, with many murals portraying scenes of naked and tied up men being put to death. Skulls were turned into cups and the bodies were put on display, with the blood being offered to the gods. The remaining body parts were swept into a ditch where the vultures finished off what was left. 3. Drugged Inca Children The Incas left behind their own legacy, one that also involved human sacrifice and children were the sacrificial preference. On Volcán Llullaillaco in Argentina, the mummified bodies of three Inca children were discovered. Researchers believe the children were drugged to sedate them. Unlike other rituals, which were often violent in nature, the Maiden and her companions seem to have been sacrificed without physical brutality. 2. Minoans The Minoans are considered Europe’s earliest advanced culture but even the most peaceful culture can have brutal practices. At the Minoan settlement of Knossos, there is evidence of child sacrifice and cannibalism. Religious paintings depict religious ceremonies, including human sacrifices offered to the gods on altars. When one Minoan home was excavated, archaeologists found a mass sacrificial burial of children. Their flesh had been stripped away, perhaps due to cannibalism. 1. Uganda’s Modern Sacrifices Between 2009 and 2010, the news caught whiff of stories coming from Uganda of ritual murders and child sacrifice. Witch-doctors have been called out for their role in the bloody practice that has apparently been on the rise. Some believe that a collection of films out of Nigeria were encouraging people to sacrifice children. The films depict families getting rich after performing a human sacrifice. Another factor may be a response to a sense of impending disaster. In this case, the looming crisis is famine. Many of the children who are killed have been kidnapped and are strangers to the killers. Survivors of these attempts are few and far between, but a little three-year-old named Mukisa made it and was able to identify the men who took him. When he first escaped the attempted kidnap, his penis was cut off by wannabe abductors. Anti-sacrifice activists have been working to turn witch-doctors away from supporting child sacrifice, setting alight sacrificial shrines as they work for change in Uganda. Witch-doctors are coming out of the woodwork and some claim to be changing their ways. One former witch-doctor who participated in many sacrificial rituals is campaigning to end the practice, although in the past he sacrificed at least 70 people, including his own 10-year-old son. Research, further reading, and image source and attribution 5.Mass Female Sacrifice in China /Shimao http://www.news.com.au/technology/science/skulls-in-mass-grave-at-the-shimao-ruins-reveal-ancient-female-sacrifice/story-fnjwl1aw-1226773803000 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2516756/Victims-ancient-sacrifice-4-000-year-old-mass-grave-containing-skulls-80-young-women-discovered-China.html http://news.discovery.com/history/archaeology/skulls-in-china-reveal-mass-female-sacrifice-131203.htm 4. Moche Temple http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/11/131119-moche-human-sacrifice-war-victims-burials-archaeology-science/ http://www.aracari.com/destinations/peru/moche-route/ http://www.explorebyyourself.com/en/peru/about_the_country/moche_route_and_trujillo/ 3. Inca http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/07/130729-inca-mummy-maiden-sacrifice-coca-alcohol-drug-mountain-andes-children/ http://news.msn.co.nz/glanceview/334624/incan-child-mummies-drugged-before-sacrifice.glance http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-23496345 2. Minoans http://www.minoancrete.com/anemospilia.htm "Human Sacrifice in Ancient Greece" by Dennis Hughes http://kretareis.glukorizon.nl/modx/assets/files/drama_of_death_in_a_minoan_temple.pdf http://www2.ulg.ac.be/archgrec/IMG/aegeum/aegaeum22(pdf)/43%20DRIESSEN.pdf http://www.ancientworlds.net/aw/Post/1274641 1. Uganda http://www.newstimeafrica.com/archives/10128 http://oldschool1003.com/2148732/child-sacrifice-is-big-business-in-uganda/ http://www.edirisa.org/studioarchive/?p=374 http://peterhoesing.com/2009/02/ http://pulitzercenter.org/blog/untold-stories/uganda-child-sacrifice-not-cultural-issue

• published: 19 Sep 2014
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