Human sacrifice in the traditions of the Andean civilization

The article is devoted to the analysis of human sacrifices in the cultures of the Andean civilization (mainly on the material of Huari, Chimor and the Inca state). The author offers his own version of the typology of sacrifices (regular and extraordinary), analyzes the data of written, archaeological and iconographic sources and comes to the following conclusions. First, the current state of the sources suggests that mass sacrifices took place, but were most likely only on exceptional occasions. Second, recent archaeological findings show that the practice of human sacrifice in different cultures was more uniform than previously thought. This is primarily a practice of child sacrifice, which was previously known mainly on the material of the Inca culture, meanwhile such findings on earlier cultures were isolated. In turn, the latest archaeological evidence shows that this practice was common in coastal cultures. This, in turn, suggests the existence of a closer ideological space that united both coastal and highland cultures of ancient Peru.

Keywords

Andean civilization, human sacrifice, religion, Inca, Huari, Chimor

Received

02.04.2020

Publication date

03.04.2020

Number of characters

31666

Cite

GOST	Novoselova E. Human sacrifice in the traditions of the Andean civilization // Latin America – 2020. – Issue 4 C. 62-74 [Electronic resource]. URL: https://latamerica-journal.ru/S0044748X0008708-7-1 (circulation date: 20.04.2024). DOI: 10.31857/S0044748X0008708-7
MLA	Novoselova, Elena "Human sacrifice in the traditions of the Andean civilization." Latin America 4 (2020):62-74. DOI: 10.31857/S0044748X0008708-7
APA	Novoselova E. (2020). Human sacrifice in the traditions of the Andean civilization. Latin America (4), pp.62-74 DOI: 10.31857/S0044748X0008708-7

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