The Punta Lobos massacre refers to the unexplained murders of approximately 200 people in Punta Lobos, Peru, in 1350 AD.
In 1997, [1] members of an archaeological team performing a survey for a mining company discovered approximately 200 bodies on the beach at Punta Lobos, Peru. The bodies had their hands bound behind their backs, their feet were bound together, they were blindfolded, and their throats had been slashed.
Archeologists say the fishermen were knifed through the collarbone—straight into the heart—in a giant human sacrifice ceremony by members of the powerful Chimu people as a sign of gratitude to their revered sea god Ni after they conquered the fishermen's fertile seaside valley in 1350 AD. Their bodies, left unburied by the Chimu and later covered up by wind-driven sand, were, despite the passage of time, found in varying states of decay—some complete with muscle tissue, hair, even fingernails. [2]
The remains of the fishermen were discovered close to the modern-day town of Huarmey, Peru, about 275 kilometres north of Lima, Peru. The archaeologists were conducting an impact assessment for a port project connected to a copper and zinc mine.
Year 1350 (MCCCL) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar.
The Moche civilization flourished in northern Peru with its capital near present-day Moche, Trujillo, Peru from about 100 to 700 AD during the Regional Development Epoch. While this issue is the subject of some debate, many scholars contend that the Moche were not politically organized as a monolithic empire or state. Rather, they were likely a group of autonomous polities that shared a common culture, as seen in the rich iconography and monumental architecture that survives today.
Trujillo is a city in coastal northwestern Peru and the capital of the Department of La Libertad. It is the third most populous city and center of the third most populous metropolitan area of Peru. It is located on the banks of the Moche River, near its mouth at the Pacific Ocean, in the Moche Valley. This was a site of the great prehistoric Moche and Chimu cultures before the Inca conquest and subsequent expansion.
Lambayeque is a department and region in northwestern Peru known for its rich Moche and Chimú historical past. The region's name originates from the ancient pre-Inca civilization of the Lambayeque. It is the second-smallest department in Peru after Tumbes, but it is also its most densely populated department and its eighth most populous department.
The Wari were a Middle Horizon civilization that flourished in the south-central Andes and coastal area of modern-day Peru, from about 500 to 1000 AD.
Chan Chan was the largest city of the pre-Columbian era in South America. It is now an archaeological site in La Libertad Region 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) west of Trujillo, Peru.
Chimor was the political grouping of the Chimú culture. The culture arose about 900 AD, succeeding the Moche culture, and was later conquered by the Inca emperor Topa Inca Yupanqui around 1470, fifty years before the arrival of the Spanish in the region. Chimor was the largest kingdom in the Late Intermediate Period, encompassing 1,000 kilometres (620 mi) of coastline.
The Pyramid of the Moon is the second-largest pyramid in Mesoamerica, after the Pyramid of the Sun, and located in modern-day San Martín de las Pirámides, Mexico. It is found in the western part of the ancient city of Teotihuacan and mimics the contours of the mountain Cerro Gordo, just north of the site. Cerro Gordo may have been called Tenan, which in Nahuatl, means "mother or protective stone". The Pyramid of the Moon covers a structure older than the Pyramid of the Sun which existed prior to 200 AD.
Lobos is a small island of the Canary Islands (Spain) located just 2 kilometres north of the island of Fuerteventura. It belongs to the municipality of La Oliva on the island of Fuerteventura. It has an area of 4.68 square kilometres (1.8 sq mi). It has been a nature reserve since 1982.
Huanchaco is a popular seaside resort city in province of Trujillo, Peru. Huanchaco is known for its surf breaks, its caballitos de totora and its ceviche, and is near the ancient ruins of Chan Chan. Huanchaco was approved as a World Surfing Reserve by the organization Save The Waves Coalition in 2012 This historic town is part of the tourist circuit called the "Moche Route" or "Ruta Moche".
The practice of human sacrifice in pre-Columbian cultures, in particular Mesoamerican and South American cultures, is well documented both in the archaeological records and in written sources. The exact ideologies behind child sacrifice in different pre-Columbian cultures are unknown but it is often thought to have been performed to placate certain gods.
For the Province of the Ancash Region in Peru, see Huarmey Province
Peruvian territory was inhabited 14,000 years ago by hunters and gatherers. Subsequent developments include the appearance of sedentary communities that developed agriculture and irrigation, and the emergence of complex socio-political hierarchies that created sophisticated civilizations, technology and monumental construction.
Túcume is a pre-Hispanic site in Peru, south of the La Leche River on a plain around La Raya Mountain. It covers an area of over 540 acres (220 ha) and encompassing 26 major pyramids and mounds. The area is referred to as Purgatorio (purgatory) by local people.
Tumi, is a generic term encompassing the many kinds of sharp tools utilized in pre- and post-colonial eras of the Central Andes region, Tumis were employed for a diverse set of purposes such as kitchen knives, agricultural tools, warrior or hunting secondary weapons, sacrificial knives, barber implements, pendants, or medical tools. In addition, the tumi form, in metal, was used as a type of coin. Pre-columbian Tumis were usually made of metal or stone.
Illimo District is one of twelve districts of the province Lambayeque in Peru.
The Andean civilizations were complex societies of many cultures and peoples mainly developed in the river valleys of the coastal deserts of Peru. They stretched from the Andes of southern Colombia southward down the Andes to Chile and northwest Argentina. Archaeologists believe that Andean civilizations first developed on the narrow coastal plain of the Pacific Ocean. The Caral or Norte Chico civilization of Peru is the oldest known civilization in the Americas, dating back to 3200 BCE.
The history of human habitation in the Andean region of South America stretches from circa 15,000 BCE to the present day. Stretching for 7,000 km (4,300 mi) long, the region encompasses mountainous, tropical and desert environments. This colonisation and habitation of the region has been affected by its unique geography and climate, leading to the development of unique cultural and socn.
The Pacatnamu site is located at the mouth of the Jequetepeque Valley on the northern coast of Peru. Rocky cliffs protect two of its sides and a manmade wall protects the third. This area of Peru does not have a tropical environment; it gets very little precipitation and has a mild climate, which sometime can become very humid.
The Chotuna Chornancap Archaeological Complex is an archaeological site in San Jose district, Lambayeque Region, 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) north-west of Chiclayo, Peru of a set of truncated pyramids and compounds, highlighting two pyramids: Chotuna and Chornancap, the first of them believed to be related to the legend of Naylamp. Chotuna was a ceremonial center of the Sican culture, one of the cultures of Pre-Columbian Peru, which developed between the years 700 to 1300 AD. Later the Chimu and then the Inca occupation followed. In 2011 the tomb of the so-called priestess of Chornancap was discovered.