Lima, April 27: Archaeologists have found the remains of more than 140 children in Peru in what appears to have been the largest instance of ancient mass child sacrifice in the world, the media reported.
The children, along with 200 juvenile llamas, are estimated to have been sacrificed about 550 years ago and the remains were found in La Libertad outside Trujillo, Peru's third-largest city, the Washington Post reported citing a National Geographic report.
It is estimated that the children's age ranged from about five to 14 years. The llamas were all less than 18 months old.
The children's skulls are stained with red, evidence that they were sacrificed in ritual killings, as the pigment was used in ceremonies.
The cuts to both the children and llamas' skeletal remains suggest their chests were cut open.
Items found in the burials, such as ropes, are radiocarbon dated to between 1400 and 1450 A.D.
The excavations began in 2011 when the remains of 42 children and 76 llamas were found.
Until now, the largest incident of mass child sacrifice was believed to have occurred in Mexico City where 42 children's bodies had been discovered.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
ISLAMABAD: At least two more cases of poliovirus were reported in Pakistan, taking the number of infections to 52 so far this year, a report said on Friday.
“The Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health has confirmed the detection of two more wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) cases in Pakistan," an official statement said.
The fresh infections — a boy and a girl — were reported from the Dera Ismail Khan district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.
“Genetic sequencing of the samples collected from the children is underway," the statement read. Dera Ismail Khan, one of the seven polio-endemic districts of southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, has reported five polio cases so far this year.
Of the 52 cases in the country this year, 24 are from Balochistan, 13 from Sindh, 13 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and one each from Punjab and Islamabad.
There is no cure for polio. Only multiple doses of the oral polio vaccine and completion of the routine vaccination schedule for all children under the age of five can keep them protected.