Following the recent record temperature rises, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) issued an official statement announcing the impact of El Niño. While the glaciers are melting rapidly in this process, it is predicted that record temperatures will be experienced in the coming days. Boğaziçi University Climate Policy Research Center Director Prof. Dr. Levent Kurnaz, on the other hand, emphasized that 2023 will be the hottest year for humanity and stated that the air temperatures will exceed 50 degrees.
Today, Peru is facing the worst epidemic in history, ‘dengue fever’. More than 170,000 people have been affected by the mosquito-borne virus and hundreds of deaths have occurred. The outbreak is due to exceptionally humid conditions caused by the climatic event known as El Niño. In the past, Peru’s Chimú people, desperate to stop the torrential rains, resorted to sacrificing their children to the gods. They took this step, hoping to mitigate the effects of El Niño. For article on El Niño CLICK HERE.
Evidence of Child Victims
Many scientists believe that the impact of El Niño cycles is getting worse with climate change. Archaeological evidence shows that this climate phenomenon has severely affected life in the region for more than a thousand years. Past societies have made spiritual appeals in addition to engineering solutions to combat the effects of El Niño. Among these calls are acts of child sacrifice, an unprecedented ritual in history.
Peruvian archaeologist Gabriel Prieto, located in northern Peru since 2011, world’s most famous lost ancient cities A large mud-brick named Chan Chan, located between Chan Chan served as the capital of the Chimú people from the 11th century until 1470, when it was conquered by the Incas. Prieto’s work has identified the burial sites of more than 250 young victims killed between 1400 and 1450. Many of these victims were buried with cuts to their chests and next to them with baby llamas in simple shrouds.
Most of the Chimú child victims were buried over a thick layer of dry mud unearthed at an archaeological site off the coast of Peru. This mud layer bears clear evidence of a major El Niño event. In explaining this situation, Gabriel Prieto noted that deep mud meant heavy rain, and that on the arid coasts of northern Peru “this type of rain usually only comes with El Niño.” This finding makes a connection that the Chimú people performed child sacrifices during times when they were experiencing the effects of El Niño.
The Chimú People’s Struggle with El Niño
Chan Chan’s population was a society that could face challenges due to rising sea temperatures and heavy downpours due to the recurring climate phenomenon, El Niño. However, to overcome these difficulties, they were trying to survive with methods such as carefully managed irrigation systems and coastal fishing.
Researchers think that a violent El Niño may have shaken the political and economic stability of the Chimú kingdom. During this period, priests and leaders could be in a desperate effort to stop the rain and chaos to the gods, and order mass sacrifices to that end. These sacrifices could be seen as a solution to please the gods and ensure the safety of society.
Haagen Klaus, professor of anthropology, states that victims are a practice in which the supernatural is carefully negotiated and communicated. This is understood as a practice by which the Chimú people interact with the cosmos. “Such many children and animals must be a big investment for the state,” explains Prieto. It is understood that significant resources and efforts are spent for the realization of these rituals.
Jane Eva Baxter, professor of anthropology at DePaul University who specializes in children and childhood history, states that offering Chimú’s children to the gods may cause them to view them as one of the most precious offerings. “You are sacrificing the future and all that potential. When you take a child, you also take in all the energy and effort that goes into maintaining your family and moving your community into the future.”
Ritual of Sacrifice Carefully Planned
For the Chimú community, the need to appease the spirits and stop the El Niño-driven rains may be an urgent issue, but the ritual of mass sacrifice appears to have been carefully planned. It is stated that hundreds of healthy boys and girls appear to have been brought from the expanding empire and their causes are being investigated. Young llamas also seem to have been selected as an important resource, collected from government-owned herds.
The work of Gabriel Prieto and biological anthropologist John Verano at the Huanchaquito-Las Llamas archaeological site allows to reconstruct the sequence of events with remains and forensic findings. Footprints preserved in the dried mud indicate a formal parade to the sacrifice site. Small bare footprints and animal prints suggest that the victims were taken to their graves alive. The absence of insect remains indicates that the children were carefully wrapped in shrouds and buried right next to the llama.
We don’t know for sure if these costly victims stopped the flooding. However, these events can provide an important window into the last years of a desperate empire. Jane Eva Baxter said, “This is the moment when they lose the most precious thing they have and make the greatest sacrifice. The findings provide very important information about the position and condition of the Chimú society at that time.”
Wall Built to Prevent Floods
More recently, he inspected an earthen wall more than 11 kilometers long stretching north of Prieto Chan Chan, long thought to be a defensive structure to keep out enemies. Now it appears that the wall may have provided protection against waves of mud, water, and debris flowing from the mountains to the east during El Niño rains.
Radiocarbon dating has determined that the wall was built before 1450, and archaeologists believe the wall was built around 1100 AD following an earlier catastrophic El Niño event. While this wall protected agricultural fields and irrigation canals to the west, it may have served as a trap for mud and sediment that could be used as fertilizer and building material for the Chimú people on the east side.
As work continues in and around the Chan Chan region, more evidence may emerge of ancient efforts to combat the devastating effects of El Niño, both spiritually and practically.
Prieto said, “The Chimú were trying to please their gods and showing their people that they were doing everything they could. We also know that they have really effective technical answers to protect their infrastructure and crops. During El Niño, they were taking many measures at once. This is a truly fascinating situation.”
